The Three Little Kittens
No place: 1986. Watercolor, graphite, and ink on paper, grid of four illustrations measuring 11 x 17 inches, image, on sheet measuring 13.25 x 20 inches. Pencil rules, printing notations, and faint spotting in margins. Archivally matted and framed to 19.5 x 25 inches.
Original watercolor by Caldecott winner Arnold Lobel, creator of the celebrated Frog and Toad series, for The Random House Book of Mother Goose (1986). Published on pages 164 and 165, this quartet of images illustrates “The Three Little Kittens,” in which a trio of kittens challenge the patience of their mother: “The three little kittens, they lost their mittens, / and they began to cry, / ‘Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear, / that we have lost our mittens.’ / ‘What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens! / Then you shall have no pie.’” Lobel’s sensitive and humorous depiction of animals, reflected both in the characters Frog and Toad and in his award-winning adaptation of Aesop’s Fables, is evident here. The Random House Book of Mother Goose would be reissued as The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose, a testament to the appeal of these illustrations. A charming original watercolor from the collection of children’s illustrator Mo Willems.
Price: $2,800.00