A BOOK OF NAUGHTY CHILDREN. Thirty Short Stories.

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original blue cloth, with titles in blue to the upper board and spine, in the Eileen Soper illustrated dustwrapper. With seventeen black and white illustrations by Eileen Soper throughout. A better than very good copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth bright and fresh. The contents are clean throughout, and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the rubbed and nicked original pictorial dustwrapper, which is a touch faded to the spine and panel edges. Not price-clipped (5s. net to the lower front flap). An attractive example.

A collection of thirty short stories about naughty children. A sequel, aptly named 'A Second Book of Naughty Children', followed in 1947. Eileen Alice Soper (1905-1990) was an English illustrator of children's literature, who was first discovered for her artistic talents at age 15, when she became one of the youngest artists ever to exhibit at The Royal Academy in 1921. She was commissioned to illustrate many of Enid Blyton's books, notably the 'Famous Five' series.