Here are some pictures, by the Polish design duo Jan Lewitt and George Him, for a children’s book from the end of the 1930s. There are Polish and English versions of this book, and later editions with different illustrations.
My copy is in French and published by les Editions des Arts et Metiers Graphiques, Paris.I note that the book was printed in Poland.
I love the soft chalky quality of the colour lithography, and the dynamic illustrations by Lewitt Him. The machine is big, fast, and fun! Also, I love the way that litho printing allows for the break-up of the letterpress grid in favour of an integration of image and text, This expresses itself in a form of typography derived from concrete poetry and Futurism.
There are hundreds of children’s books which feature railway engines…In Britain, we are familiar with The Railway Children and Thomas the Tank Engine especially.