Rizzoli Compiles Beloved 60s Children's Books Into 'This Is America'

"I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities," observed President John F. Kennedy in 1962, "we too will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit."

It was a time of incredible upheaval in the United States, with the landmark Civil Rights Act just two years away, and a cultural revolution beginning to take hold, from sea to shining sea and everywhere in between. Indeed, the 1960s arguably represented the decisive shift away from a post-war America to a new contemporary reality, characterized by hopeful progress, yet also a new set of problems and divisions we are very much still grappling with.

Thousands of miles away, Czech writer-illustrator Miroslav Šašek- who fled Prague to settle in Munich after the Communist takeover of his country - began the now beloved "This Is" series of children's books, prominently featuring such marquee European cities as Paris, London, Rome and Venice. And yet he was also somehow keenly attuned to what was happening across the Atlantic, with the series as well including New York (1960), San Francisco (1962), Cape Canaveral (1963), Texas (1967) and Washington, D.C. (1969), when Nixon was still President. All were beautifully republished during the aughts.

Now Rizzoli has thoughtfully taken the latter five and collected them under the title 'This Is America: A National Treasury', sort of timed to the country's 250th birthday. Sure, the books now feel charmingly quaint; yet the series still genuinely resonates with young readers - and their parents - likely due to the endless fascination with the graphic styles and fashions of that era. After all, the Mid-Century Modern revival has now become a fully entrenched style, far more than just another trend.

More importantly, on a cultural level, there's just something about these pages that seems to be begging us to put down our devices, sit down with our kids, and escape into a time far before the preeminence of digital culture. Don't be surprised if the little ones ask how come no one is carrying an iPhone.

The book is lighthearted - yet it is also a striking visual document of precisely what JFK was rather romantically referring to in that speech, that storied American "can do" spirit. On the pages are cheerily nostalgic images of architectural masterpieces like the Empire State Building and the US Capitol, engineering marvels like the Brooklyn Bridge and the beloved San Francisco trolley cars, even cultural icons like Frank Lloyd Wright's dazzlingly spiral-shaped Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Of course, no record of America during the 1960s would be complete without also properly paying homage to the then-still-new and societally unifying space program (Remember when Americans could actually all agree on something?), Indeed, there are plenty of simultaneously futuristic and nostalgic depictions of the heroic astronauts, the awesome rockets, NASA's Project Mercury, and even Mr. Ham, the first monkey to go into space.

Sure, the book feels like something 'Mad Men' lead character Don Draper might have gifted his kids for Christmas. But let's admit it, there was a reason viewers were so wistfully glued to that show for seven seasons.

Note: Earlier this year Rizzoli republished the titles 'This Is New York', 'This Is San Francisco', 'This Is London', and 'This Is Paris'.

(Also! Check out this insightful video by Italy based illustrator Madalina, which looks back on how Šašek developed his now iconic style.)