ABC of Babar.

BRUNHOFF, Jean de; [Maurice Sendak].

$850.00

Item Number: 147127

New York : Random House, 1936.

Early American edition of this pictorial letter book, from the library of Maurice Sendak, although not marked. Small octavo, original publisher’s pictorial boards, illustrated. Very good in a very good dust jacket, tape residue to the endpapers. Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, is often hailed as “the Picasso of children’s books.” He has produced more than 85 books which have populated children’s imaginations for years. For his contributions to children’s literature, Sendak received the third biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration in 1970, one of two inaugural Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards in 2003, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the professional children’s librarians in 1983. Rare in the original dust jacket and with noted provenance.

Jean de Brunhoff wrote The Story of Babar based on a story his wife created for their children. The book enjoyed immediate success upon publication and de Brunhoff went on to publish six more stories in the series before his death in 1937. Babar returns in ABC of Babar to entertain and educate the children of France. "Each page features a letter of the alphabet, and Babar invites his readers to find as many words as they can, beginning with the proper letters and describing the objects pictured" (Anne T. Eaton, N. Y. Times).