Starting in 1937 and slightly reconfigured in 1941, the New York Herald Tribune began to award prizes to outstanding children’s books each spring. At the time, these awards were considered by many, both inside and outside the publishing world, as the equivalent of the Caldecott and Newbery medals. Each year, a major children’s illustrator would create a poster for the festival, the vast majority of which were destroyed following the celebration.

This original 22 x 16-3/4” color poster by acclaimed children’s illustrator Robert McCloskey (Make Way for Ducklings, Lentil, Blueberries for Sal, Homer Price) is printed on heavy stock and is in Very Fine condition. Among the rarest and most desirable Spring Book Festival posters, a jeans-clad boy lounges in a field and turns the page of a book.