Seven Little Monsters
Maurice Sendak ~ Harper & Row, 1977
I'm often shocked to find wonderful books by famous authors out-of-print, but seeing as this one is so closely related to a famous book (Where the Wild Things Are) it is even more shocking. Perhaps Sendak himself is keeping it out of print, who knows. All I know is that from a book lover's point of view it makes no sense, as this followup up to what the Wild Things seem to be doing now is wicked and wonderful and worth getting a second look at.
I'd only heard of this title before so it came as a delightful surprise when the boy and I stumbled in off the street into a bookshop to escape the pouring rain and there it was, all wonderful and perfect staring back at me from the shelf. So for this, what is for me, the rainy last day of school before the holidays really begin, please enjoy a little bit of rarely seen Sendak and hope that someone comes to their senses and gets this little bugger back into print.
Also by: A Very Special House
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present
Moon Jumpers
What Do You Say, Dear?
Pierre: A Cautionary Tale
Some Swell Pup
Let's Be Enemies
Chicken Soup with Rice
Lullabies and Night Songs
Outside Over There
Where the Wild Things Are
The Giant Story
I'll Be You and You Be Me
The Juniper Tree
Open House For Butterflies
Dear Mili
In the Night Kitchen
OMG, there is no chance of me getting this one ever, so thank you so much for the pics. How I wish it could have been the entire book! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm often astonished that so many good books, that work as well now as when they were written and illustrated, are out of print. It must be disheartening to be the author or illustrator of them too! At least Sendak knows he's still hot property!
ReplyDeleteI think the first I heard of it was through the later PBS cartoon series that was loosely based on this book, but from what someone had told me once, this particular story first made it's appearance as an animated segment on Sesame Street some years before (the book itself is said to be storyboard sketches to it). You can see it here...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JLJCbIkNFM
OOOOh thank you ! This is delightful to see... and sad to realize I'll probably never turn its pages. Thank you so much for sharing this little treasure !
ReplyDelete