Secret Lives of Walter Mitty and of James Thurber

By James Thurber and Joe Manchester

Book Overview

The WISP series (short for Wonderfully Illustrated Short Pieces) represents an ingenious marriage of two creative forces: the artistry of today's foremost children's book illustrators and the literary legacy of beloved authors of popular short works for adults. The resulting offspring of this union are captivating, full-color illustrated editions of timeless classics that readers will want to savor and collect.

For the first time ever, the series makes selected popular short works previously offered only in collections available in a unique, stand-alone format. Also for the first time, WISPs harness the talents of top children's book illustrators for the benefit and delight of a new, older audience.

The unique appeal of WISPs is brought to life in Marc Simont's The Secret Lives of Walter Mitty and James Thurber, which imaginatively renders the fantastic adventures of the famed protagonist in Thurber's beloved story, first published in 1939. Also included in this edition are Simont's renderings of Thurber's tongue-in-cheek autobiographical essay "The Secret Life of James Thurber", which first appeared in The New Yorker in 1943 and is not widely available.

These one-of-a-kind, attractively priced and invitingly formatted illustrated editions will make a great impulse buy with broad appeal.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060847883
• ISBN13: 9780060847883
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.4" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

A Longstanding Pair

Thurber and Simont were friends and neighbors in West Cornwall, Connecticut, when Simont was a young man. After Thurber lost his own eyesight, Simont illustrated such works of Thurber's as "The Thirteen Clocks" and "The Wonderful O". Recently, Simont provided new illustrations for a new edition of "Many Moons", the first illustrations of which had earned Louis Slobodkin a Caldecott Award. Simont, a native speaker and teacher of the Catalan language, won the Caldecott Award for "A Tree is Nice", in 1957.