BAUMAN RARE BOOKS 26 “Once There Was A Little Bunny Who Wanted To Run Away” First edition of Brown and Hurd’s perennial favorite about a little bunny who wanted to run away, a lovely copy in the scarce original dust jacket. “In a many-faceted, brief, but remarkable career, Brown pioneered in the writing of books for the nursery school ages; authored more than 100 volumes including the classic Runaway Bunny (1942) and Goodnight Moon (1947); served as a bridge between the worlds of publishing, progressive education, and the experimental arts of the 1930s and 1940s; and did much to make children’s literature a vital creative enterprise in her own time and afterward” (Silvey, 95). “Brown and Clement Hurd teamed up for a second time with The Runaway Bunny, in 1942. The hide-and-seek tale of a mother rabbit and her baby bunny was based on a medieval Provençal ballad. (Brown had spent two years at a Swiss boarding school, and her French was excellent)” (Vanity Fair, December 2000, pp. 176-78). In the spring of 1941 Brown turned in her manuscript, and her editor loved it—except for the ending. After giving it some thought, Brown sent an additional line via telegraph, the final line of the finished book, “a simple addition that summed up the gentle current of love and humor throughout the book” (VF, 178): “’Have a carrot,’ said the mother bunny.” Book beautiful and about-fine, with one small bunny colored in; rare unrestored dust jacket with wear to spine, including loss of most of title lettering, toning to rear panel, front panel particularly bright and fresh. An excellent and desirable copy of this children’s classic. 34BROWN, Margaret Wise; HURD, Clement, illustrator. The Runaway Bunny. New York and London, 1942. Oblong octavo, original green cloth, dust jacket, custom clamshell box. $32,000
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