Tenggren's Tawny Scrawny Lion

Kathryn Jackson wrote hundreds of lively, witty stories for Golden Books, most of which were coauthored with her husband, Byron. The Saggy Baggy Elephant is one of the pair’s most famous titles. Golden Books that Kathryn Jackson wrote on her own include Tawny Scrawny Lion, Nurse Nancy, Pantaloon, Richard Scarry’s The Animals’ Merry Christmas, and Richard Scarry’s A Story a Day: 365 Stories and Rhymes.

Gustaf Tenggren (1896-1970) was a well-known illustrator in his native Sweden before immigrating to the United States in 1920. He illustrated many Golden Books, beginning with The Poky Little Puppy. One of the original twelve Little Golden Books published in 1942, The Poky Little Puppy went on to become the bestselling picture book of all time. Other iconic Little Golden Books illustrated by Tenggren include The Saggy Baggy Elephant and Tawny Scrawny Lion. In the late 1930s, Tenggren worked for the Disney Studio, providing concept artwork (created to inspire and guide animators) for various characters and scenes in Bambi, The Old Mill, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Fantasia.