Many of our most cherished childhood memories recall the pleasure of sitting
in a big comfy chair while a doting parent reads from a lovingly illustrated
picture book. Jack and the Bean Stalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Robinson Crusoe.
the colorful illustrations that decorated the pages of these stories remain
forever captured in the mind s eye.

Once Upon a Time reawakens the joys of childhood reading, of seeing a story
come alive in words and pictures on the printed page and in our nascent
imaginations. Drawing upon the extraordinary collection of Victorian-era
illustrated books amassed by Arthur and Ellen Liman, it presents fairy tales
and fables, nursery rhymes, instructional books, juvenile fiction, histories,
and manners manuals. Created through a variety of illustration techniques and
printing processes, most are beautifully colored. Many are also animated with
moveable parts. These striking objects are accompanied by brief texts that
place them within their era and illuminate the rise of children's literature
in America as a cultural phenomenon related to the growth of literacy, an
increase in leisure time, and an understanding of the "infant mind." The moral
of this story: learning your ABCs can be a visual pleasure.

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