Western and Simon & Schuster to develop a close relationship. In 1938, Western and Simon & Schuster released their first joint creation, A Children’s History. Duplaix had the idea to produce a colorful, more durable and affordable children's book than those being published at that time which sold for $2 to $3. With the help of his fellow Guild colleague Lucile Olge, Duplaix contacted Albert Leventhal and Leon Shimkin with his idea (Albert and Leon work for Simon & Schuster, and Albert serves as the company's vice president and sales manager). The group decided to publish twelve titles for simultaneous release in what was to be called the Little Golden Books Series. Each book would have 42 pages, 28 printed in two-color, and 14 in four-color. The books would be staple-bound. The group first discussed a 50-cent price for the books, but Western did not want to compete with other 50-cent books already on the market. The group calculated that if the print run for each title was 50,000 copies instead of 25,000, the books could affordably sell for 25 cents each. Mary Reed, Ph.D., a professor at the Teachers College, Columbia University, served as initial editor of the series. The first 12 titles were printed in September 1942 and released to stores in October: Three Little Kittens, by Marie Simchow Stern Bedtime Stories, illus. Gustaf Tenggren Mother Goose, by Phyllis Fraser, illus. Gertrude E. Espenscheid Prayers for Children, by Rachel Taft Dixon The Little Red Hen, illus. Rudolf Freund Nursery Songs, by Leah Gale, illus. Corinne Malvern The Alphabet from A to Z, by Leah Gale, illus. Vivienne Blake and Richard Peck The Poky Little Puppy, by Janette Sebring Lowrey, illus. Gustaf Tenggren The Golden Book of Fairy Tales, by Winfield Scott Hoskins Baby's Book of Objects The Animals of Farmer Jones, by Leah Gale, illus. Richard Scarry This Little Piggy and Other Counting Rhymes, by Phyllis Cerf Wagner, illus. Roberta Harris Pfafflin Petty Three editions totaling 1.5 million books sold out within five months of publication in 1942. Simon & Schuster editor Dorothy A. Bennett also worked with Duplaix on the Little Golden Books. Bennett became the editor of the franchise, producing books by such authors and illustrators as Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd, Edith Thacher Hurd, and Garth Williams. Bennett authored several Golden Books, and introduced some of the first recorded books for children with Little Golden