<P> Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902 to immediate success . Peter Rabbit was Potter's first of many The Tale of..., including The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, The Tale of Tom Kitten, and The Tale of Jemima Puddle - Duck, to name but a few which were published in the years leading up to 1910 . Swedish author Elsa Beskow wrote and illustrated some 40 children's stories and picture books between 1897--1952 . Andrew Lang's twelve Fairy Books published between 1889 and 1910 were illustrated by among others Henry J. Ford and Lancelot Speed . In the US, illustrated stories for children appeared in magazines like Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Woman's Home Companion intended for mothers to read to their children . Some cheap periodicals appealing to the juvenile reader started to appear in the early 20th century, often with uncredited illustrations . Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo was published in 1899, and went through numerous printings and versions during the first decade of the 20th century . Little Black Sambo was part of a series of small - format books called The Dumpy Books for Children, published by British publisher Grant Richards between 1897 and 1904 . </P> <P> L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900, and Baum created a number of other successful Oz - oriented books in the period from 1904 to 1920 . Frank Baum wanted to create a modern - day fairy tale since he loved fairy tales as a child . In 1910, American illustrator and author Rose O'Neill's first children's book was published, The Kewpies and Dottie Darling . More books in the Kewpie series followed: The Kewpies Their Book in 1912 and The Kewpie Primer 1916 . In 1918, Johnny Gruelle wrote and illustrated Raggedy Ann and in 1920 followed up with Raggedy Andy Stories . Other Gruelle books included Beloved Belinda, Eddie Elephant, and Friendly Fairies . </P> <P> In 1913, Cupples & Leon published a series of 15 All About books, emulating the form and size of the Beatrix Potter books, All About Peter Rabbit, All About The Three Bears, All About Mother Goose, and All About Little Red Hen . The latter, along with several others, was illustrated by Johnny Gruelle . Wanda Gág's Millions of Cats was published in 1928 and became the first picture book to receive a Newbery Medal runner - up award . Wanda Gág followed with The Funny Thing in 1929, Snippy and Snappy in 1931, and then The ABC Bunny in 1933, which garnered her a second Newbery runner - up award . </P> <P> In 1931, Jean de Brunhoff's first Babar book, The Story Of Babar was published in France, followed by The Travels of Babar then Babar The King . In 1930, Marjorie Flack authored and illustrated Angus and the Ducks, followed in 1931 by Angus And The Cats, then in 1932, Angus Lost . Flack authored another book in 1933, The Story about Ping, illustrated by Kurt Wiese . The Elson Basic Reader was published in 1930 and introduced the public to Dick and Jane . In 1930 The Little Engine That Could was published, illustrated by Lois Lenski . In 1954 it was illustrated anew by George and Doris Hauman . It spawned an entire line of books and related paraphernalia and coined the refrain "I think I can! I think I can!". In 1936, Munro Leaf's The Story of Ferdinand was published, illustrated by Robert Lawson . Ferdinand was the first picture book to crossover into pop culture . Walt Disney produced an animated feature film along with corresponding merchandising materials . In 1938 to Dorothy Lathrop was awarded the first Caldecott Medal for her illustrations in Animals of the Bible, written by Helen Dean Fish . Thomas Handforth won the second Caldecott Medal in 1939, for Mei Li, which he also wrote . Ludwig Bemelmans' Madeline was published in 1939 and was selected as a Caldecott Medal runner - up, today known as a Caldecott Honor book . </P>

A picture book differs from an illustrated book for this reason