Collier's Junior Classics Vol. 4 - Just Around the Corner (1962 Twelfth Printing, Crowell-Collier, Illustrated Children's Stories)

Martignoni, Margaret E., series editor; McGuire, Alice Brooks, vol. ed. Just Around the Corner (Collier's Junior Classics: The Young Folks Shelf of Books, Vol. 4). New York: The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, 1962. Twelfth Printing. Octavo (8.25 x 6.25 in). Gray cloth boards stamped in gilt and blue with decorative motif of a toy horse on the spine. 376 pp. Part of the beloved Collier's Junior Classics set, this fourth volume, Just Around the Corner, gathers mid-century children's stories and poems selected by leading librarians and educators for enrichment reading. The contents combine humor, imagination, and moral reflection, drawing from the works of well-known authors and folk traditions. Each story is accompanied by engaging color and monochrome illustrations. Edited by Alice Brooks McGuire, librarian at Casis Elementary School (Austin, Texas), with general editorial supervision by Margaret E. Martignoni, Dr. Louis Shores (Florida State University), and Harry R. Snowden, Jr. A fine example of the educationally curated literature series that helped define American children's reading culture during the 1950s-60s. Condition: Very Good. Firm binding, clean text block. Moderate shelf wear and minor rubbing to boards and spine ends; light toning to endpapers; interior bright and unmarked. Gilt titles remain vivid. A solid, collectible example of this iconic mid-century juvenile anthology. Margaret E. Martignoni (Series Editor) was a prominent children's librarian and reading specialist who served as Superintendent of Work with Children at the Brooklyn Public Library. Her editorial leadership brought together leading educators across the country to compile the Collier's Junior Classics series, first issued in 1962 as a thoroughly updated replacement for the 1918-1938 Young Folks Shelf of Books. Alice Brooks McGuire, the volume editor for Just Around the Corner, was an elementary librarian in Austin, Texas, noted for her child-centered approach to reading enrichment and her role in shaping postwar American school library practices.