Pierre Probst: The Little Golden Books and the Rose Albums

Some of the earliest works by Probst were in the form of a set of small books released in France as Les Albums Roses, early in the 1950s. I'm not sure how many books were released in that set, but I've seen some on Ebay described below. These were also released in Germany as Die Rosa Bücher, and in the United States as Little Golden Books. I've only heard of three of these Little Golden Books below, and haven't seen any equivalent British stories (though the occasional Australian version pops up).

There also was some connection with another children's book author named Enid Blyton, described here.

English Language (Little Golden Books), 1957-1960

These three American titles plus the two Australian versions are each centered about one of three of the main Caroline characters. The style is much more raw than his Caroline shorts and Treasuries. The seem to be more of "moral" children's stories rather than storylines like the Treasuries and shorts. They come up quite often on Ebay and can be had for sometimes as cheap as $1.00 if you know how to look. The Rusty one is the cutest, then Bobby and Puff. As a guess I think they were written in the following order, since the styles of the first one is the least similar to the Caroline books, but Rusty is pretty much dead on. These are small in size, about 7.5" x 5.5".

Puff the Blue Kitten
A simple story about a cat who is kind of mean so has no friends, then tries to disguise himself to start anew. Looks quite different than the "real" Puff.

Bobby the Dog (American Version) and Bobby the Pup (Australian Version)
This story follows the day of Bobby the Dog and his pet mouse. The narrator goes through and explains lots of the events of the day, how Bobby keeps himself clean, in good shape, and other "educational" things like that. I'm assuming the Australian version is the same as the American version except perhaps colloquialisms in the text.

Rusty Goes to School
This story follows Rusty as he goes to school. Includes cameos of Bobby, Puff and Inky. It says ©1962 (US version), © 1957 in France.

Fluff the Blue Kitten (Australian Version)
Looking at the cover, this looks totally different from Puff above. Perhaps unrelated completely.

Les Albums Roses, France, 1953-?

This seems to be the origin of all of the series. Not too many of these go by on Ebay, but when they do the price is usually a modest $10 or so.

Youpi et Caroline, 1953
This may be the first introduction of Caroline, as it focuses on Youpi (Rusty) and Caroline is sort of a background character. It says ©1953.

Ton Petit Alphabet
This doesn't mention Caroline by name, but appears to be a girl with her dog. Perhaps this is even older than Youpi?

Bobi et Eglantine
Boum et Ses Frères ©1954
Caroline en Avion
Youpi au Zoo
Youpi en Vacances
Trois Petits Lions
Pipo ©1967
Pouf et Noiraud, Bricoleurs
Pouf et Noiraud, Campeurs
Pouf et Youpi, Boxeurs
Caroline et Son Cousin
Pouf et Son Cousin
Le Voyage de Pipo

Tim en Ballon
Tim Detective

These two are more connected with the Fanfan Series.

Die Rosa-Bücher, Germany, 1957-?

I found these three German ones through a book search. They are very cute and seem to be the German equivalent of the Little Golden Books. I haven't seen the Mauz und Bauz in English, and they appear to be copies of French originals. Also, they are in verse, which adds a nice touch. They are about 7.5" x 5", about 25 pages.

These others exist in the same collection according to the inside cover of the above three:

Juppi, das lustige Dackelbuch
Pipo rettet Lämmchen
Mauz, die blaue Katzen
Bobby
Juppi und Katrin