By Hillel Italie
A rare Maurice Sendak picture story, originally a pamphlet for a 1970 museum fundraiser, will be coming out in book form next year.
HarperCollins Publishers announced Thursday that Sendak's “Ten Little Rabbits” is scheduled for Feb. 6. “Ten Little Rabbits” is a “count-along picture book,” according to HarperCollins, about a boy magician named Mino and his magic hat. Sendak sketched out Mino and the hat in black and white, while filling in the rabbits in yellow and blue among other colors.
“Maurice’s black and white line drawings have a playfulness and charm that stand up to his glorious full-color artwork in a way that is uniquely their own,” Antonia Markiet, editorial director of HarperCollins Children’s Books, said in a statement.
Sendak conceived the pamphlet for the Philadelphia-based Rosenbach Museum, where he became a trustee in 1973 and later served as honorary president. For decades he left the artwork of such classics as “Where the Wild Things Are” and “In The Night Kitchen” at the museum, which returned his work to Sendak's estate in 2014, two years after he died at age 83.
HarperCollins acquired the 32-page book from the not-for-profit Maurice Sendak Foundation. Sendak's original pamphlet, just 3.5 x 2.5 inches, has been enlarged to 7 x 9 inches. Used editions of the original “Ten Little Rabbits,” published by the museum, are available on the Internet for $50 and higher. The new release has a list price of $19.95.
“Little Mino the Magician is able to conjure up magic with the wave of his wand, much like Maurice himself could with his pen. We are so pleased to bring this gem to a whole new generation of readers,” Lynn Caponera, president and treasurer of The Maurice Sendak Foundation, said in a statement.
Other posthumous Sendak releases, also published by HarperCollins, include “My Brother's Book” and “Presto and Zesto in Limboland.”
