Four Color #398

Delightful chaos reigns on Don Gunn's cover for this 1952 Dell entry in the Four Color series, where a crowd of the tiny, round-headed Brownies scramble around a giant yellow bird perched in what appears to be a large cage, while insects — a green caterpillar, ladybugs, and a yellow bug — join the mayhem alongside tumbling apples and a top hat. Brownies dangle from ropes, hang upside down, and cluster around a swirling tub of water, every inch of the image packed with cheerful, good-natured mischief. It's a wonderfully busy scene that captures the warm, whimsical spirit Palmer Cox's little folk brought to generations of readers.