The story is by Carl Memling. He’s no Mike Maltese. But then who is? Plus his audience for this book is aimed at young children, not a mass audience (including adults) like the Quick Draw cartoon show was. Memling was born Carl Cohen on January 18, 1918 (he legally changed his name in 1954) and died on October 18, 1969 in Queens, New York. He wrote a number of children’s books.
The art is by Hawley Pratt and Al White. Pratt should be known to cartoon fans as Friz Freleng’s longtime layout man. I don’t know what White did besides Golden Books; we have plenty of comic fans reading who probably have the answer.
You can click on each picture to make it bigger.
Thanks for running this, Don! As mentioned last time, this was my brothers' favorite book for me to read to them (I was seven, they were five and three) before going to bed, especially when Quick Draw stepped on Baba's toe. Logical point: I remembered it as him stepping on Baba's FOOT because a hoof has no toes. But there it is in black and white. I guess it's better than "Ouch!" cried Baba Looey, "You're stepping on my hoof!
ReplyDeleteThanks for running this, Don! As mentioned last time, this book was my brothers (age five and three) loved me to read to them (I was seven) before we went to bed, especially when Quick Draw stepped on Baba's toe. Logical point: I remembered the line as referring to his foot, not his toe--but I suppose that's preferable to "Ouch!" cried Baba Looey, "You're stepping on my HOOF!" Hawley Pratt's illustrations (and Al White's painting) are wonderful, but, unlike comics, notice that every page is full figure, without any close-ups. I'm guessing this was following the well-researched Golden Book "bible" every book had to adhere to. (I very nearly did coloring book illustration for Western, and they had a set a strict rules for that too, so this sounds like a likely explanation.)
ReplyDeleteNeat! I have most of the Hanna-Barbera Little Golden books in my collection. Among my favorites are Wally Gator, Touche Turtle, and Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks.
ReplyDeleteI "thin" Baba Looey lost his accent!
ReplyDeleteDesigned by the same fellow who did Layouts in Friz Freleng's "Tom Tom Tomcat" (1953). Pratt was a great mentor to background artists who worked with him (in TTT's case, Irv Wyner).
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