Description

Rand McNally, Book-Elf Book No. 427. Hardcover, [50] pp (unnumbered). 1948 printing. Illustrations by Fiore and Jackie Mastri. In good+ condition with a few small nicks to the paper at the top and bottom of spine and some bubbling to the thin clear plastic coating along the seam of the rear cover. Light overall scuffing to covers as well. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. NOT Ex-Library. NO remainder marks. Charming color illustrations. Ruth Cromer Weir (1902 - 1998) was a journalist and children's author. Cromer attended the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa) and graduated with a degree in journalism in 1924. She was a feature writer for the Des Moines Register and later began to write childre'’s books. She was the biography editor for the World Book Encyclopedia and also served as the nature editor for the magazine Childcraft. Fiore and Jackie Mastri were prolific children's book illustrators who provided artwork for many books during the 1940's and 50s. They are best known for their work on the Boy Scout Encyclopedia. Fiore (1905 - ?) was born in Italy and, after emigrating to America, studied with the muralist, John Norton. Myrtle (nee Jackson) was born in Alberta, Canada and studied art under Alfred Crocker Leighton in Calgary at the Institute of Technology and Art. She later moved to Chicago in 1940 to study at the Illinois Institute of Technology. She became a successful commercial artist in Chicago, where she married fellow artist Fiore Mastri in 1945.