Nutshell Library

By Maurice Sendak

Copyright 1962

 

I loved this little set of books as a child.  I had my very own tiny boxed set of four of Sendak’s clever, beautifully illustrated rhyming books.  They had slipped from my memory until I saw a photo of a very well-read set in a tweet from Forgotten Bookmarks. The website, Forgotten Bookmarks is owned by a used book seller who highlights interesting inscriptions and ephemera found in the books that travel through the shop.

 

I imagine my personal set was in even worse shape - perhaps from my own children’s tiny hands - or I wouldn’t have disposed of it.  Fortunately, I was able to find a replacement for a bargain price and have since enjoyed becoming reacquainted with these charming books. 

Alligators All Around is an “alligator jamboree with all the letters A to Z”. 

One Was Johnny is a counting book in which Johnny counts forward to 10 and back down to 1 when an assortment of unusual guests enter his home.

Pierre is a cautionary tale with the moral message that apathy and stubbornness can be dangerous - “a story with a moral air about Pierre, who learned to care”. 

I think my favorite is Chicken Soup with Rice – a book of months.  

In March the wind blows down the door

And spills my soup upon the floor.

It laps in up and roars for more.

Blowing once

Blowing twice

Blowing chicken soup with rice.

That blowing March wind is getting tiresome, so I’ll read ahead to July.

In July I’ll take a peep

Into the cool and fishy deep

Where chicken soup is selling cheap.

Selling once

Selling twice

Selling chicken soup with rice.

All four books are both fun and educational for young children, interesting enough for adults to read to them, just the right size for sharing while sitting close together, and the little box makes the books seem like the treasure that they are.