Description

My Favorite Story by P. Buckley Moss

Introduction

My Favorite Story by P. Buckley Moss is a 1998 open-edition lithograph sketch centered on one of childhood’s most familiar pleasures: becoming completely absorbed in a book. A young boy sits barefoot in a simple wooden chair, head lowered toward the open pages resting across his lap.

Rendered in black, white, and gentle shades of gray, the composition relies on line, crosshatching, and tonal contrast rather than color. Canada Goose Gallery’s approved inventory confirms My Favorite Story, 1998, Sketch / Open Edition, with a current inventory price of $75. The supplied gallery record further identifies the work as a lithograph printed on paper, new and mint, with a Certificate of Authenticity included.

Story Behind the Artwork

There is very little surrounding the child in My Favorite Story, and that simplicity gives the scene its strength. Moss concentrates attention on the boy, his chair, and the book stretched between his hands.

His head is bowed, his eyes directed toward the pages. Bare feet hang comfortably below loose overalls, while the dark shirt and wooden chair provide the deepest tones in the composition.

Nothing tells us what story he is reading—and that omission makes the title particularly effective. The book can become whatever “favorite story” the viewer remembers from childhood.

The result is less a portrait of a particular book than a recognizable moment: a child so occupied by reading that the world beyond the page seems temporarily unnecessary.

Symbols & Meaning

Books naturally carry associations with learning, imagination, discovery, storytelling, and memory. Yet My Favorite Story is not presented like a classroom lesson. The relaxed posture and solitary setting suggest reading undertaken for personal enjoyment rather than instruction.

The empty white space surrounding the child can also be read as an effective visual counterpart to concentration: nothing competes with the boy or his book.

These observations arise from the composition and title; they should not be presented as documented statements of Moss’s intention.

Artistic Details

The monochrome treatment makes texture especially important.

Moss differentiates the child’s hair, dark shirt, pale overalls, wooden chair, skin, and open book through variations in line density and gray shading. The darkest areas of the chair and clothing visually support the much lighter face, hands, feet, and pages.

The boy’s bare feet are a particularly humanizing detail. Together with the loose overalls and comfortable seated posture, they keep the image informal and intimate.

The chair also contributes a strong geometric framework. Its vertical posts and horizontal rails surround the softer shapes of the child’s body without requiring a room or other background.

Featured Master Collections

Primary Master Collection: Childhood & Storytelling

Few works fit this collection more directly: the principal subject is a child physically engaged with a storybook.

Supporting Master Collection: Family & Legacy

Favorite childhood books often become part of family memory—shared, saved, rediscovered, and sometimes passed to another generation. This is an editorial connection to the subject rather than documented history specific to this artwork.

A third Master Collection is unnecessary.

Decorating Ideas

The monochrome palette makes My Favorite Story particularly adaptable to collected traditional, cottage, farmhouse, and neutral interiors.

It would work naturally in a child’s bedroom, nursery, family room, reading nook, home library, study, classroom, or alongside other Moss childhood sketches. Its black-white-gray palette also makes it easy to pair with natural wood, black, charcoal, cream, or softly painted frames.

For a gallery wall, consider grouping it with Moss works involving children, books, school memories, music, or other quiet childhood activities.

Gift Ideas

My Favorite Story has an especially natural connection to readers, teachers, librarians, grandparents, parents, and families raising young readers.

It can make a thoughtful gift for a new parent, grandparent, teacher, librarian, child’s birthday, nursery, first library, graduation into reading, or anyone who remembers a particular childhood book with affection.

About the Edition

Artist: P. Buckley Moss
Title: My Favorite Story
Year: 1998
Medium: Lithograph / sketch on paper
Edition type: Open Edition
Condition: New, mint
Certificate of Authenticity: Included
Current CGG inventory price: $75
Numbered edition: Not applicable
Artist’s proofs: Not applicable
Image size: 8-1/2 x 10 inches
Orientation: Vertical

🎨 Fun Fact:

Children’s books were not always created primarily for enjoyment. The Library of Congress notes that many early books for young readers emphasized instruction and moral lessons, while surviving children’s literature from the first half of the nineteenth century documents a growing shift toward reading for pleasure and entertainment. Its historical children’s collection now organizes examples around three revealing purposes—“Learning to Read,” “Reading to Learn,” and “Reading for Fun.” That last category gives the title My Favorite Story an interesting historical context: choosing and returning to a beloved story reflects an idea of childhood reading that developed considerably over time.

---

🖼️ Collector’s Insight:

My Favorite Story is distinguished by how little Moss needs to establish its narrative. There is no classroom, library, parent, or surrounding room—only a barefoot child, a wooden chair, and an open book. That visual economy keeps attention on the private relationship between reader and story, while the monochrome sketch treatment gives the image an intimate, almost remembered quality. For collectors interested in Moss’s childhood subjects, the work offers a particularly quiet variation: instead of children interacting with family, animals, toys, or the outdoors, this boy’s entire world is temporarily contained within the pages in his hands.

Why Buy from Canada Goose Gallery

Canada Goose Gallery’s approved inventory confirms My Favorite Story as a 1998 Sketch / Open Edition, currently listed at $75. The supplied product record identifies the available print as a new, mint lithograph on paper with a Certificate of Authenticity included.

Continue Exploring

If you enjoy sketch art be sure to visit these other P. Buckley Moss Children Sketch Selections:

• Chores
• Court Champion
• Easter Basket
• Easter Eggs
• Goddess of the Garden
• Graceful Girl
• Like This
• Little Miss
• Little Patriot
• Pat’s Paint Brush
• Someone Special
• Spelling Lesson
• The Collector
• Typical Boy

Color Children Prints:

• Story Time With Brother — Product ID 16607, $50
• Story Time With Sister — Product ID 16610, $50
• Alisha
• All in a Day’s Work
• Alone in Thought
• Amber
• Amanda’s Flowers
• Amish Girl Painting
• Amy
• Anita
• Angel Child

P. Buckley Moss Children Ornament Collection

• Bathtime Ornament
• Baby Boy Ornament
• Baby Girl Ornament
• John Deere Boy Ornament
• John Deere Girl Ornament
• John Deere Fun Ornament
• Moonbeam Ornament
• School Friends Ornament
• The Nutcracker Ornament
• Visiting Nurse Ornament

Suggested WordPress Categories:

• P. Buckley Moss Fine Art Prints
• P. Buckley Moss Ornament Collection
• The Collections Hub
• Open Edition
• Sketch Art
• Children
• Reading
• Education

---

 “Every reader remembers a favorite story.”