The art of Mel Crawford from Rootie Kazootie Baseball Star Vintage Illustrated Book from 1954

A look at the artwork of Illustrator Mel Crawford from the 1954 book Rootie Kazootie Baseball Star

picture of children's book cover

When I'm out looking for vintage illustrated books to add to my collection there are certain artists whose artwork I love! And one of them is Mel Crawford.

Here is an issue I found of a book he did for Golden Books from 1954 for the character Rootie Kazootie. Rootie Kazootie was a 1950s children's television show The Rootie Kazootie Club and featured human actors along with hand puppets.

(Related website category: Illustration)

picture of children's book page with illustration

Picture of children's book with illustration

Mel Crawford was a Canadian-American children's book illustrator and comics artist. He drew horror and fantasy comics for Western Publishing but is best known for adapting various child-oriented media into beautiful children's books.

picture of children's book pages with illustration of baseball players

picture of children's book page with illustration of a mouse

Mel Crawford worked as an artist for various different film and TV companies and made books starring some of the most popular fictional characters of the 20th century, from Disney and Hanna-Barbera to Jim Henson Productions.

picture of children's book page with illustration of boy and a mouse

picture of children's book page with illustration of girl and man

picture of children's book page with illustration of man playing baseball

Mel Crawford worked as an animator at Disney in the 1950s but felt that illustrating children's books and record covers suited him better.

Picture of children's book page with illustration of girl cheer-leading

Picture of children's book page with illustration of dog playing baseball

Picture of children's book page with illustration of man playing baseball

Picture of children's book page with illustration of girl sitting

picture of children's book pages with illustration of boys running and a man with a top hat

Picture of children's book pages with illustration of children running on a road

Picture of children's book pages with illustration of a pond, a man and kids

Picture of children's book pages with illustration of pond and people

Picture of Children's book page with illustration of pond and two men

picture of children's book page with men and kids standing on green baseball diamond

Picture of children's book pages with illustration of two men yelling

Picture of children's book pages with illustration of two umpires and boy playing baseball

Picture of children's book page with illustration of boy with baseball hat, dog and mouse

I really just love his style of artwork.

Picture of children's book back cover yellow with illustrations

And of course the classic version of the back cover for Golden Books during this time period.

Picture of children's book back cover with illustrations and text

Check out the illustrated books for sale in my store here

Read Next: Sherlock Hemlock & Great Twiddlebug Mystery Retro Book Illustration Artwork Sesame Street from 1972

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