BEAUTIFUL ORIGINAL COLOR ILLUSTRATION OF A JUNGLE SCENE FROM JULIET KEPES' 1953 CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK, FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS

KEPES, Juliet. Original color illustration ["Five Little Monkeys"]. No place, circa 1953. Original color illustration, measuring 17 by 10 inches; matted and framed, entire piece measures 25 by 19 inches. $3200.

Original color illustration of a jungle filled with animals appearing in the 1953 Caldecott Honor Book, Five Little Monkeys, executed by illustrator Juliet Kepes with the page text handwritten in Kepes' hand.

Five Little Monkeys is a 1952 children's book—named a Caldecott Honor Book in 1953—about five monkeys who wreak havoc in the jungle, only gaining the respect of other animals when they capture an even greater menace: an evil tiger. The text is enlivened by award-winning British artist Juliet Kepes' vibrant illustrations, of which this is one example. Kepes' "pictures are big, splashy, and angular… the overall effect epitomizes the humorous side of jungle life" (Kirkus). This illustration depicts the eponymous five little monkeys swinging from trees and presumably bothering the other denizens of the forest including a lion, an elephant, and others. While the illustration contained printed text in the book, Kepes has added the text to the allotted space in her own cursive hand.

Fine condition.