99 “They Went Home And Broke Their Bread, Brushed Their Teeth And Went To Bed”: First Edition Of Madeline 159BEMELMANS, Ludwig. Madeline. New York, 1939. Slim folio, original pictorial boards and endpapers, dust jacket. $5500 First edition, first issue, of the first book about the irrepressible Madeline. “The original inspiration for Madeline was the convent where Bemelmans’ mother was educated as a child, along with the author’s own experience in boarding school, where he walked with his classmates in two straight lines” (Silvey, 55). First issue, with 12 girls instead of 11 in the “They went home and broke their bread” illustration. Pomerance A24a. With a laid-in Christmas card featuring an original Bemelmans Madeline drawing done specifically for the card. Book bright and lovely with slight wear to corners, dust jacket with some toning, expert restoration to verso. “Childlike Wonder Reverberating With Mysterious Intensity” 160VAN ALLSBURG, Chris. The Polar Express. Boston, 1985. Oblong quarto, original maroon cloth, dust jacket. $1100 First edition of Van Allsburg’s lushly illustrated, enchanting tale of childlike wonder and hope, winner of the 1986 Caldecott Medal. Chris Van Allsburg’s captivating fable “clearly established the illustrator-author as one of the premier creators of picture books in 20th-century children’s literature. The Polar Express, immediately taken to heart by children and adults alike… Van Allsburg touches a universal chord— faith. The simple truth of the story is perceptively conveyed through a felicitous blend of pictures and narrative; the combination radiates with childlike wonder while reverberating with mysterious intensity” (Silvey, 660). Fine. “I Shall Be Tail-Less For The Rest Of My Life” 161DAHL, Roald. Fantastic Mr. Fox. New York, 1970. Octavo, original pictorial beige cloth, dust jacket. $1500 First edition, first printing of Dahl’s humorous children’s book, wonderfully illustrated by Donald Chaffin. “In a review of the 2009 stop-action animated film by Wes Anderson, Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic Roger Ebert saved special praise for the tone of Dahl’s story: “Like all of his work, [it] has ominous undertones, as if evil can steal in at any moment… Children, especially, will find things they don’t understand, and things that scare them. Excellent. A good story for children should suggest a hidden dimension, and that dimension of course is the lifetime still ahead of them.” Book fine, bright priceclipped dust jacket with one tape repair to verso. An excellent copy.
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