The Children’s Court, at the Los Angeles Central Public Library

Imagine, for a moment, it is 1925 and the Library has just recently opened. In the Children’s Court, Hartley Burr Alexander selected some commonly known fairy tales for Lawrie to illustrate in Stone Panels. The Children’s courtyard is lined with images illustrating fairy tales from Mother Goose. Lawrie opted to create these whimsical panels to help encourage children to get curious and read these books.

And 1925 was roughly 3 years before Walt Disney would produce Steamboat Willie, released in 1928. While there may be earlier examples of animation, (Phantasmagorie, 1908,) “Willie” was among the nation’s earliest cartoons. Note that “Saturday Morning cartoon shows simply didn’t exist back then. For entertainment, kids had to go to the library to read their fairy tales, and classic children’s stories, like Alice in Wonderland, Tales of the Arabian Nights, or Tales of King Arthur, Robin Hood, or stories from Mother Goose.

The Beauty of this history is that a century ago, children had to use their imagination to create these fantasy worlds.

Note also, that Dr. Alexander chose the phrase “THE WORLD IS MY BOOK” over the doorway to this area. The Children’s Court is an outdoor are were children could sit outside within the walls of the courtyard, and read to their hearts’ content.