By the time Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector died in 1977 at the age of 56, she had published eight novels. But throughout her life, she also wrote a number of children’s stories for her sons Pedro and Paolo, two of which will soon be published as picture books for the first time by New York Review Books’ NYRB Kids imprint.
Lispector’s The Mystery of the Thinking Rabbit, illustrated by Kammal João, and Almost True, illustrated by Carla Irusta, will hit shelves on April 1. Both are translated from the Portuguese by Benjamin Moser, whose 2009 biography of Lispector was a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award.
“Lispector’s books for children are marked by a wonderfully original, conversational tone,” NYRB senior editor Susan Barba, who acquired the books, told PW. “What drew me to these two titles in particular was that they had this quality and at the same time they were especially fun stories about the ‘intimate life’ of animals.”
The Mystery of the Thinking Rabbit, Barba said, offers up an “unsolved mystery” that pays homage to Pedro and Paolo’s pet rabbits. The book focuses on a rabbit named Jaoazinho, whose penchant for escaping from his cage leads to adventures unknown to his owners. His family wonders: How does he escape, and where, exactly, does he go? The story was written in the 1950s without the intention of being published, but was eventually released as Lispector’s debut children’s book in 1967.
Meanwhile, the playful Almost True, first published in 1978, stars Lispector’s dog, Ulisses, who tells a “nicely barked story” in which he meets a singing sun, men “manning” and women “womaning,” an abundance of omelets, and even an organized revolution.
“Children’s books by well-known adult authors are often disappointing. They’re not strange or subtle enough, or they’re too somber or too didactic,” Barba said. “Lispector is a happy exception.”
For Barba, both books ultimately demonstrate Lispector’s command not only over tone and pacing, but also her keen awareness of her intended audience: “She knows children, she knows what interests them, and she is writing about what interests her as well—about human nature, about animal nature, what makes us tick.”
Barba first encountered The Mystery of the Thinking Rabbit and Almost True in 2022, when New Directions published four of Lispector’s stories in its Storybook series. These books, Barba explained, had “several pen and ink illustrations,” but the agent for Lispector’s estate had “wanted to see them published as full-color picture books, for children, as they [were] in Brazil.”
When the agent sent Barba some of the Brazilian illustrated editions published by Rio de Janeiro–based publishing house Rocco, which owns the rights to Lispector’s books, Barba said she “was immediately drawn to Carla Irusta’s playful illustrations for Almost True and Kammal João’s more conceptual illustrations for The Mystery of the Thinking Rabbit.”
Soon after, she said, NYRB contracted with New Directions—which for more than a decade has undertaken the project, spearheaded by Benjamin Moser, of translating and reissuing Lispector’s oeuvre—for Moser’s translations of the stories. NYRB then teamed up with Moser to edit the stories for the picture book editions.
Though Lispector’s legacy has largely been defined by her innovative novels, such as The Hour of the Star and The Passion According to GH, these two picture books provide a new glimpse into the author’s imagination. They also stand as “less linear, more unusual” additions to children’s literature, said Barba—a trend that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“I think people, adults and children alike, are ready for more creative and less commercial children’s books,” Barba said, “and I hope these titles will encourage them to seek out more books like these, as well as Lispector’s books for adults.”
