We picked up this charming little book recently.

It dates from 1964 and comes from the World Doll Series by Irene Dark – a collection of 12 books each dedicated to a different country.

Dolls in traditional costumes proudly take you on a tour of their homeland. Our Dutch guides were Hans & Wilhelmina – and they took us on a trip around Holland – through the bulb fields, past windmills and along canals.

We were very taken by the illustrations by W.Lewis from the Birmingham School of Design. We’d never come across this artist’s work before.

They’re beautifully drawn – colourful, whimsical & very charming. We really think they hold their own against work by more famous illustrators such as Bill Charmatz & Miroslav Sasek.

They’re perfect books for children of course – educational & fun, but we’re sure they’ll have many grown up fans too. We have an ever expanding pile of vintage children’s books which we collect for the gorgeous artwork. With quite a few books in this particular series, there’s an opportunity to collect many more examples of W. Lewis’ work.

If you’re as taken with the illustrations as we were, then there are a few examples of the books up for sale on eBay, Amazon, Alibris and AbeBooks at the moment. We’re actually giving out this information before we’ve got a full set – the sacrifices we make for our readers!! 😀