A Special Project
Once Upon a Simpler Time
A Nostalgic Seek-and-Find Journey Through the Art of James H. Worthington
Some artwork asks you to look. James H. Worthington’s paintings invite you to stay awhile.
Filled with vintage cars, neighborhood markets, holiday gatherings, familiar places, and small surprises, James’s scenes capture the warmth and wonder of a simpler time. Each detailed painting tells dozens of little stories, offering something new to discover every time you return.
Once Upon a Simpler Time transforms James’s artwork into an intergenerational seek-and-find experience. With artwork by James H. Worthington and challenges created by Dianna Wright, the book invites children, adults, families, and seniors to explore, remember, connect, and have a little fun along the way.
- Artwork
- James H. Worthington
- Seek-and-Find Challenges
- Dianna Wright
- ISBN
- 9798190874655
The Artist
Meet James H. Worthington
James H. Worthington’s acrylic paintings are inspired by his love of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. His scenes blend real places and treasured memories with imagination, creating lively worlds filled with vintage cars, holidays, neighbors, markets, and small surprises waiting to be discovered.
James hopes his artwork brings viewers a sense of happiness and wonder, inviting them to slow down, look closely, and find something new each time.
Kind, caring, artistic, and gentle, James values meaningful conversation and has a special gift for helping others feel heard. That same warmth lives within every scene he creates.
Inside the Book
Look closely. There is always more to discover.
Every spread pairs one of James’s richly detailed paintings with a list of objects to find and bonus challenges to explore.
The result is an activity readers can enjoy alone or share across generations, sparking observation, memories, laughter, and conversation along the way.
The Story Behind the Book
How This Book Came to Be
I met Jim Worthington and Gloria Condon more than eleven years ago at an art gallery in Frederick. What began as a chance meeting grew into a friendship that changed my life. Over the years, Jim and Gloria became more than friends. They became my stand-in parents, the kind of people who make a place in their lives for you and somehow make you feel as though it had always been there.
Jim’s artwork was part of our friendship from the beginning. His paintings are filled with movement, memory, humor, and hundreds of tiny details. Every time I looked at one, I noticed something I had missed before.
About a year before this book was created, an idea began following me: Jim’s paintings would make wonderful seek-and-find adventures. His scenes already invited people to slow down, look closer, and discover the little stories tucked inside them. I could imagine children exploring them with parents, grandparents sharing memories inspired by the vintage scenes, and older adults enjoying the challenge and conversation they created.
The idea stayed with me until I finally decided it deserved to become real.
I selected the details, created the seek-and-find challenges, and helped shape Jim’s paintings into a book that could be enjoyed across generations. But the most meaningful moment came when I placed the finished book in Jim’s hands.
He was so tickled.
Once Upon a Simpler Time is more than a collection of artwork or an activity book. It is a celebration of Jim’s imagination, the friendship we have shared, and the joy that can come from helping someone see the value of what they have created.
A Gift That Keeps Giving
Helping another generation create.
Proceeds from the book help provide art supplies for a local Boys & Girls Club in Jim’s name, allowing his creativity to encourage another generation of artists.
Explore the Book on Amazon