The Puffin in Bloom collection includes a variety of children’s and older reader nostalgic classics with whimsical floral cover art by the principal artist behind renowned stationery brand Rifle Paper Co, Anna Bond.
The standard books are ‘naked’ hardcovers (i.e. no dust jacket), with delightful cover and spine designs, and floral borders around a classic quote from the book on the back cover. At the back of each book, you will also find additional information about the the author, the characters, a glossary, and other useful details. These titles also come in boxed sets, which may be cheaper than buying the titles individually.
Shelf Appeal
The pretty spines are sure to draw the eye, but the covers will show marks if not handled gently. The endpapers are illustrated in monochrome with characters and small scenes and flowers from the story, but the paper book block is glued, which may reduce their longevity. The books are not illustrated. (I know Amazon often says they are illustrated, but this refers to the cover style, not the contents).
Formats
The standard hardcovers are relatively small in format (around 7.5″ x 5.4″), which is very comfortable for a child reader, but this does result in longer volumes like Little Women ending up quite fat which can put stress on the spine. Several of the titles have also been released as ‘Penguin Mini’ paperback editions which are very small and cute (around 4.6″ x 3.3″ – half the size of your standard postcard!).
Want more illustrations?
My only disappointment is that Anna Bond’s beautiful illustrations are limited to the cover design and endpapers. If you want to see more of her beautiful illustrations, I highly recommend her edition of Alice in Wonderland, which I’ve linked below for your perusal as well. Bond’s Alice has a cover design that is similar to the Puffin in Bloom series, but this volume is much bigger, coming in at around 10″ x 8″.
List of books
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A boxed set of small-format children’s classics. Titles include A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, and Anne of Green Gables by LM Montomgery.
A boxed set of children’s classics. Titles include Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, and Anne of Green Gables by LM Montomgery.
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