Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman and his wife, New Yorker art director François Mouly, have released the latest Little Lit title, part of their ongoing series of hardcover alternative comix for kids. Strange Stories for Strange Kids is published by HarperCollins's Joanna Cotler Books in conjunction with RAW, Spiegelman and Mouly's publlishing program.
The new book brings together an unusual group of illustrators and artists that include noted children's author Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are); serious adult literary author Paul Auster (the New York Trilogy); bestselling humor writer David Sedaris; and Caldecott winner Ian Falconer, creator of Olivia the Pig. The book also features stories by cartoonist Jules Feiffer and children's book illustrator Barbara McClintock.
As usual with Spiegelman and Mouly, these are not your father's comics. In Spiegelman's contribution, "The Several Selves of Selby Sheldrake," the young protagonist picks his nose until he extracts something really odd--out tumble a neverending series of mischievous, nose-picking Selbys.
"Kid's literature doesn't have to be disposable," Spiegelman told PW. "We're trying to get the best adult writers, the best kids' authors and the best people from comics to do Little Lit books. Maurice Sendak is really just a comics artist manque." As for Auster and Sedaris, he continued, "Paul has kids and wanted to contribute to a comics series that could be read and reread. David Sedaris was able to get in touch with his inner strange child for his story." As for Jules Feiffer, "he fits all the categories. He's a father, an adult book author and a cartoonist."
