Pass it Down: Five Picture Book Families Make Their Mark

This well-researched book is a lively cultural history of the Western Publishing Company and their bold WWII experiment to create affordable books for children. Learn, too, about the exceptionally talented writers and illustrators who helped create such a memorable series.

Using original source material, letters, and interviews with people who knew her, Marcus creates a compelling picture of the unusual woman who re-invented children’s picture books, especially with her enduring classics, The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon.

This thoroughly researched and compelling history looks at the editors, authors, librarians, and booksellers who helped answer the provocative and centuries-old question: What should children read? Discover how landmark children’s books like The New England Primer, The Cat in the Hat, and The Chocolate Wars helped define children, families, and the culture of their times.

Renowned children’s literature authority Leonard S. Marcus speaks with their creators and others — twenty-one of the world’s most celebrated authors and illustrators — and asks about their childhood, their inspiration, their determination, their mentors, their creative choices, and more. Amplifying these richly entertaining and thought-provoking conversations are eighty-eight full-color plates revealing each illustrator’s artistic process from sketch to near-final artwork in fascinating, behind-the-scenes detail.

Leonard Marcus, a nationally acclaimed writer on children’s literature, has created a richly annotated edition of this perennial favorite. Marcus’s expansive annotations include interviews with the author and illustrator, illuminating excerpts from Juster’s notes and drafts, cultural and literary commentary, and Marcus’s own insights on the book.

Marcus presents in-depth interviews with 13 renowned fantasy writers, including Susan Cooper, Nancy Farmer, Brian Jacques, Tamora Pierce, and Philip Pullman. Marcus unearths some common threads (many were inspired early on by J.R.R. Tolkien, for example) and elicits advice to aspiring writers. From Ursula Le Guin: “Read. Write. Read. Write. Go on reading. Go on writing,”

“A picture book is a dialogue between two worlds: the world of images and the world of words,” says Marcus in this lively inside look at the creative work of 14 children’s book writers and illustrators. Maurice Sendak, Rosemary Wells, Robert McCloskey, Charlotte Zolotow, James Marshall are among those who are interviewed.