Dear Genius

[REFERENCE]. Dear Genius. The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom. Collected and Edited by Leonard S. Marcus. [NY]: HarperCollins [1998]. 8vo, xlii 406pp. Brown quarter-cloth decoratively stamped in gold with tan boards decoratively stamped in gold. Beige endpapers; 17 pages of b&w photographs and documents. A fine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket. Signed by the editor, Leonard S. Marcus.

First edition. Ursula Nordstrom, was the director of Harper & Brothers (later Harper & Row) childrens book department from 1940 to 1973, a period during which she published some of the most groundbreaking and influential childrens books of the 20th Century. This collection of letters from the editor to her authors and artists, carefully selected and introduced by Marcus, reveals the wit, humor, and editorial guidance that helped shape some of the most amazing talents of that time, including Maurice Sendak, Arnold Lobel, Ruth Kraus, Crocket Johnson, Tomi Ungerer, William Steig, Shel Silverstein, Russell Hoban, Louise Fitzhugh, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Margaret Wise Brown, and many, many more. A must read for any childrens book lover!