"IRRESISTIBLE VITALITY": FIRST EDITION OF WHO'S GOT GAME? THE ANT OR THE GRASSHOPPER?, SIGNED BY CO-AUTHORS TONI MORRISON AND HER SON, SLADE MORRISON

MORRISON, Toni & MORRISON, Slade. Who's Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper? New York: Scribner, (2003). Square quarto, original red cloth, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. $350.

First edition of a "witty, hip-hop-inspired update" of Aesop's tale of the grasshopper and the ant, boldly signed on the title page by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison, wonderfully illustrated by European artist Pascal Lemaitre.

"Irresistible vitality and intensity were cornerstones of Morrison's extraordinary life" (New York Times). That is perhaps never more apparent than in the lively children's books she co-authored with her son, artist and musician Slade Morrison. Here mother and son give a new spin to Aesop's tale as his "freewheeling Grasshopper and industrious Ant become "'Foxy G and his ace Kid A' in this witty, hip-hop–inspired update by the Morrisons" and artist Pascal Lemaitre (Publishers Weekly). With illustrations by Pascal Lemaitre, whose artwork, which is linked to that of William Steig, Shel Silverstein, and James Stevenson, is also featured in the Morrisons' other Who's Got Game? books.

A fine copy.