Bumble Bugs and Elephants: A Big and Little Book
New York: William R. Scott, 1938. 22.5x22cm: unpaginated, [20pp.]. First Edition. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. Original spiral-bound pictorial boards. Oxford Jct. Public School stamp with “1948” in pen on the inside of front cover. A half page promotional sheet bound in. Only about a third of the spiral binding is intact. Boards lightly soiled. Wear to board corners and edges with a few minor smoothed out creases to page corners. Soiling and discoloration to title page due to half page promotional sheet. Very Good. Not found in Cotsen. While held by a number of institutions, this title appears to be scarce in the trade.
Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952), best known for her beloved classics Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, — both illustrated by Clement Hurd — was a pioneering force in children's literature. Deeply influenced by educator and Bank Street College founder Lucy Sprague Mitchell, Brown became a charter member of the Bank Street Writers Laboratory, where she penned her earliest stories and later served as editor for Mitchell’s publishing house, William R. Scott.
Brown’s second published book, Bumble Bugs and Elephants, exemplifies her innovative approach to writing for young children. Like many of her works, it offered "simple, gamelike structures in which to frame their own [children’s] rhymes, thoughts, and perceptions.” As noted by Anita Silvey, “In thus extending to readers an open invitation not to hold solemnly to the author’s word as final, these books epitomize the Bank Street view that children are best approached as full collaborators in learning” (Silvey, p. 65).
Price: $250.00
Item #10539