OPEN HOUSE FOR BUTTERFLIES

(New York): Harper & Brothers, 1960. First printing. Fine in near fine jacket.. First edition of Krauss's follow-up to A HOLE IS TO DIG, in which she collects her observations of children's innovative approach to word invention and turns them into a book of poetry. Krauss enjoyed enormous acclaim as a writer on her own terms for her children's books that are now better known today as early "Sendak titles." Biographer Philip Nel argues that, because she "treated them as equals, children accepted Krauss as one of them, confiding in her, telling her stories, or just playing while she watched. She listened, wrote down what they said, and used her poet's ear to select phrases that displayed a natural, unrehearsed lyricism."

Krauss, along with her husband Crockett Johnson, was a formative mentor for Sendak. While their relationship was often strained, Sendak felt that "part of her fury was educating me, the dumb Brooklyn kid, into a more interesting human being. She was determined that I have more insight, that I think higher" (quoted in Nel, 178-9). An exceptionally beautiful copy. 6.5'' x 5''. Original quarter black cloth, yellow paper boards. In original unclipped ($1.50) yellow pictorial dust jacket. Pictorial endpapers. Illustrated by Sendak throughout in black and white; text in brown. [48] pages. Tiny bit of wear to jacket spine ends, else clean and fresh.