Children's Book Week, November 12th to 18th, 1922
Date1922
Artist
Jessie Willcox Smith
(American painter and illustrator, 1863–1935)
Illustration CitationAdvertising poster for Children's Book Week, November 12th to 18th, 1922
MediumCommercial lithograph
Dimensionssheet: 21 3/16 × 13 7/16 in. (53.8 × 34.1 cm)
Credit LineFound in collection
Object number1900-121
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPRINT
Label TextEstablished in 1919, Children's Book Week is an annual celebration of children's literature and reading. Today, it is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country.The founders commissioned this advertising poster from Jessie Willcox Smith. Her scene of a boy and girl reading in a home setting conveyed the idea that plentiful books and frequent reading should be a normal part of childhood. Viewers might well have recognized the poster's style; Willcox Smith was the exclusive cover illustrator for Good Housekeeping magazine from 1917 to 1933, as well as the illustrator of over 60 books of modern and classical literature. As is typical for the artist's imagery in her other advertising art, these children are well-dressed and seem to inhabit a comfortable home, indicating that the target audience was the upper class. 
Jessie Willcox Smith
1919
