The Raggedy Andy Stories

Johnny Gruelle's first collection of stories featuring Raggedy Ann was published in 1918. These tales, illustrated by Gruelle's own charming and brightly colored drawings, were inspired by his daughter Marcella's devotion to a rag doll that has originally belonged to her grandmother. Raggedy Ann Stories was the first of a series of forty books. In 1920, Gruelle brought out Raggedy Andy Stories.Gruelle called his rag-doll boy "the little rag brother of Raggedy Ann." In this new Derrydale book of the best stories and art from the first edition, Raggedy Andy is introduced to all the other dolls in Marcella's nursery for the first time, and adventure after adventure follows. All the favorite doll characters from Raggedy Ann Stories are here: the French doll, Uncle Clem, Henny the Dutch doll, as well as Marcella's mischievous dog Fido. As a special treat, the denizens of the nursery are visited by such childhood celebrities as Santa Claus and the Easter bunny.Included in this new edition, which beautifully recreates the layout of the original using all-new type, are the full-color illustrated stories "How Raggedy Andy Came," "The Nursery Dance," "The Spinning Wheel," "The Taffy Pull," "The Rabbit Chase," "Raggedy Andy's Smile, "The Wooden Horse," and "Making 'Angels' in the Snow."