The Big Green Book

The Big Green Book is back in print in the US for the first time since 1985! This is one of Caldecott Medal winner Maurice Sendak’s early illustrated titles, a collaboration with the noted British author of I, Claudius, Robert Graves.

A little boy named Jack discovers a big green book of magic in the attic and learns all sorts of spells—spells to change the look of things, spells to make him old and gray or disappear entirely! Jack makes the most of his new magic powers, and his poor old aunt and uncle are quite bewildered. This enchanting tale is masterfully illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

About the Authors

Robert Graves is best known for his novel I, Claudius, which was turned into a Masterpiece Theatre blockbuster megahit in 1976. He was born in 1895 in London, England, and went from school to the First World War, where he became a captain in the Royal Welch Fusiliers and was seriously wounded at the Battle of the Somme. He published his autobiography, Goodbye to All That, in 1929, and it was soon established as a modern classic, followed by I, Claudius in 1934. He died in 1985 in Majorca, his home since 1929.

Maurice Sendak’s children’s books have sold over 30 million copies and have been translated into more than forty languages. He received the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are and is the creator of such classics as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, Higglety Pigglety Pop!, and Nutshell Library. In 1970 he received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration, in 1983 he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, and in 1996 he received a National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America.