A bird can fly. So can I. A cow can moo. I can, too. So begins the simple, delightful rhyme by Ruth Krauss that both celebrates and encourages a child’s imagination. Mary Blair’s vibrant artwork, found in the Golden Books archives and newly scanned, looks as fresh as it did 50 years ago.

Ruth Krauss was an American writer of children’s books and theatrical poems for adults. She was the author of such books as The Carrot Seed, Cantilever Rainbow, and I Can Fly.Mary Blair was a prominent concept artist for the Walt Disney Company and worked on such films as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Song of the South, and Cinderella. Several children’s books she illustrated in the 1950s remain in print today, including I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss and Baby’s House by Gelolo McHugh. In 1991 she was posthumously inducted into the Disney Legends hall of fame.