Forward! Maurice Sendak’s rare cartoon, ‘Ten Little Rabbits’, will be published in 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — A rare cartoon by Maurice Sendak, originally a pamphlet for a 1970 museum fundraiser, will appear in book form next year.
HarperCollins Publishers announced on Thursday that Sendak’s “Ten Little Rabbits” is scheduled for release February 6. “Ten Little Rabbits” is a “countable picture book,” according to HarperCollins, about a young magician named Mino and his magic hat. Sendak sketched Mino and the hat in black and white, while filling in the rabbits in yellow and blue, among other things.
“Maurice’s black-and-white line art has a playfulness and charm that stands out against his glorious full-color artwork in a unique way,” Antonia Markiet, editor-in-chief of HarperCollins Children’s Books, said in a statement.
Sendak designed 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 classics such as “Where the Wild Things Are” and “In The Night Kitchen” at the museum, which returned his work to the Sendak estate in 2014, two years after he died at the age of 83.
HarperCollins acquired the 32-page book from the non-profit Maurice Sendak Foundation. Sendak’s original pamphlet, only 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 up. The new release has a list price of $19.95.
“Little Mino the Wizard can conjure magic with the wave of his wand, just as Maurice himself could with his pen. We are so excited to be able 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.”
