Mercer Mayer Versus Maurice Sendak: My Thoughts on the Subject

While growing up in the 1970's, I had my favorite books.  There were eight total; four in one little box, and four in another little box.  One set of books had words, and the other didn’t.  These box sets were The Nutshell Library by Maurice Sendak (1962, containing: Alligators all Around, One was Johnny, Chicken Soup with Rice, and Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue) and Four Frogs in a Box by Mercer Mayer (1976, containing: A Boy, a Dog and a Frog; Frog Where are You; A Boy, a Dog, a Frog and a Friend; and Frog on His Own).  Like many of my “precious” childhood favorites, my mother has my Nutshell Library set of books at her house.

Now, I’ve heard that others have had some confusion over these two illustrators.  Many claiming that Mercer Mayer is overly influenced by Maurice Sendak.  I even heard people give credit to Mercer Mayer for writing some of Maurice Sendak's works (and vice versa)!

I had similar thoughts when I was very young because The Nutshell Library and Four Frogs in a Box were both small boxes of four books... but that was about it.

Now to examine these similarities:

Firstly, Maurice Sendak (born in 1928) started having his illustrations published in 1947.  Mercer Mayer (born in 1943) first had his illustrations published in 1967. That is a 20 year difference (and they are close to that in their age difference).  So, it is very possible that Mercer Mayer was very aware of Maurice Sendak's work.  Sendak's work was popular, and it is even possible that a publisher told Mercer Mayer to do something “similar” in order to be published.

Secondly, they do both have a couple of “boy”-style characters that appear in a lot of their works.   They both have dark-haired boys that they’ve used for their characters. For Maurice Sendak, this is probably his “Pierre” archetype (which may have started in some of his early illustrations for Ruth Krauss books like A Hole is to Dig).   Mercer Mayer’s “boy”-character probably started with the unnamed boy in A Boy, a Dog and a Frog book and developed into many other similar looking/feeling boys in Terrible Troll, There's a Nightmare in My Closet, I am a Hunter, A Special Trick, Bubble Bubble, You’re the Scaredy Cat, etc (and also with slightly different color hair or glasses in If I Had…, Mine, A Silly Story, and others)… plus some of his illustrations for other authors like in The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald, Outside My Window (Liesel Moak Skorpen), Margaret’s Birthday (Jan Wahl), Grandmother Told Me (Jan Wahl),  Boy Was I Mad (Kathryn Hitte), The Boy Who Made a Million (Sidney Offit), etc…   BUT Maurice Sendak and Mercer Mayer are both men, and they were dark-haired boys once.  It only makes sense for them to take influences from their own lives. 

One specific comparison that I’ve heard has been Mercer Mayer’s There’s a Nightmare in My Closet versus Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.   One is about a boy dealing with his fears and getting over it (Nightmare).  The other is about a boy who goes to a fantasy land because he’s mad at his mother but comes home eventually (Wild Things).  The Wild Things characters aren’t an object of fear in Maurice Sendak’s book; they are what the boy wants to be.  The Nightmare character in Mercer Mayer’s book is an object of fear that the boy deals with and overcomes.   Yes, they both have (very different looking) monsters, but that is about it.  To be honest, I really don't get this comparison.

If you actually want to compare two books, you’d have to look at Maurice Sendak’s Very Far Away (1957) and Boy, Was I Mad! (1969, written by Kathryn Hitte and illustrated by Mercer Mayer).  

Both feature boys in very different looking cowboy hats and boots running away; one is a dark-haired boy who is “mad” because he got in trouble and had to sit quietly in the corner (Boy, Was I Mad!), and the other is a light-haired boy who is “upset” because of a new sibling and not being listened to (Very Far Away).  The comparisons end there.  The two boy’s “adventures” while running away are very different.  Sendak’s boy meets a bunch of talking animals that are also running away.  Hitte/Mayer’s boy meets real-life characters.  It is only the running away cowboy-dressed boys that are similar (and the Mercer Mayer design was probably Kathryn Hitte’s idea).  But, boys dressed as cowboys and boys running away are common themes and who knows if anyone was influenced by anyone else.  Also, Maurice Sendak tends to use a minimalist approach for his drawings in Very Far Away, and Mercer Mayer's are very detailed and rich in Boy, Was I Mad!.  So, maybe there really isn't anything here to compare.


Thirdly, maybe people just get confused because their first names start with "M."  Could it be that simple? Maybe.  Maurice Mayer and Mercer Sendak... oops... I mean Mayer Sendak and Mercer Maurice... oops... Yeah, maybe....

So, my conclusion is this. Mercer Mayer may have been slightly "influenced" by Maurice Sendak. I know he respects Maurice Sendak from comments of his that I've read. I am also sure that people come up to Mercer Mayer all the time and tell how much they love (insert Maurice Sendak title here... probably Where the Wild Things Are). Who knows, maybe people come up to Maurice Sendak and tell him how much they love Little Critter?

There are plenty of "similar" books out there by other authors and illustrators, and I may break some out and share them on here in the future.  In the meantime, "Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the Zipperump-a-zoos bite!"

Walt Disney's Surprise Package is a SURPRISE indeed!

While going through a pile of books at a garage sale recently, I ran across a beauty of an oversized book called Walt Disney's Surprise Package.  It wasn't in the best condition, but I noticed some things in it that really "surprised" me.

Details for the edition I am talking about: Walt Disney's Surprise Package, First Printing, Simon and Schuster, 1944 (that's right, 1944!).  Illustrated by Walt Disney Studio.  Stories adapted by H. Marion Palmer (I believe that is Helen Marion Palmer) from originals by Hans Christian Anderson, Lewis Carroll, Kenneth Grahame, Sir James M. Barrie, Joel Chandler Harris (Uncle Remus), "The Walt Disney Studio," English Folk Tales, and Serge Prokofieff. 94 pages!  My edition doesn't have a dust jacket, but I've read that it did have one originally.

The first thing I noticed was the cover...

Walt Disney's Surprise Package (front cover)

Who are those "Disney" characters? Well, let's find out, follow me.  Let's open the front cover... Ooooh, nice and fun endpapers!

Walt Disney's Surprise Package (endpapers)

Now, as I flipped through this book, I noticed familiar stories, but the pictures weren't quite right.  It slowly dawned on me that this book came out BEFORE most of the film adaptations of these stories came out!  This book is filled with the original story ideas and original drawings that would finally become some of Disney's best loved films.  In many ways, it is like a concept art and story book. 

Let's continue our journey to the first story.

The first story in the book is "Through the Picture Frame" (adapted from the Hans Christian Anderson story).  This was also released as a separate book in 1944 by Simon and Schuster adapted by Robert Edmunds, but with the same illustrations as a part of "Walt Disney's Little Library" set of books.  Here is the cover of that edition:

Through the Picture Frame (front cover)

This story deserves its own book (and as you can see, they did just that, but I don't own that version so I can't compare)!  It is almost 20 pages of the Surprise Package book. I am very surprised that Disney never animated this story.  But, if the other stories in this book show us anything, they probably started. 

Now, I am going to give you a full page view of how this book (Walt Disney's Surprise Package) is designed.  If you've had any Golden Book single volume collections, you've probably seen similar layouts (except this book is much larger than most of those, height-wise).  The pictures and text are interspersed.  They co-mingle on the page.  Some pictures are splashed across the width of the book, but most are smaller.  Some are color, and some are black & white. Here's an example:

layout example

Our next selection is "Brer Rabbit en His Satchel Uv Gold."  Now, Song of the South would come out two years after this book.  So, Disney was working on it for sure.  This particular story has two characters that didn't make it into Song of the South: Brer Lion and Brer Wolf.  The illustrations aren't too great, but the story has all the charm of most of the Uncle Remus tales.

Brer Rabbit, Brer Wolf, and Brer Fox

After that is "The Emperor's New Clothes."  From what I've read on the Internet, this was planned as an animated short, but Disney never completed it.  So this story is a great addition to the book, and 10 illustrations are included that all have a great Disney flare to them.

The closest thing I've seen from Disney to this story and illustration style was the Disneyland Record and Book (remember those...see the picture, hear the story, read the book?) called Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (click the link to see a picture of the cover).  But that book didn't capture the delightful snootiness of the little Emperor in this version. 


Next, "The Little Fir Tree." This is another example of a Disney short that was never made. One source, Wikipedia, lists it as a part of a film that was being worked on called Tales of Hans Christian Andersen which was scheduled to include "The Emperor’s New Clothes" (see above), "The Emperor’s Nightingale," "Through the Picture Frame" (see above), "The Little Fir Tree" (what I am talking about right now), "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," and the "Little Mermaid" (which probably would have been very different then our modern Disney version).  This film was never finished as far as I know.

from "The Little Fir Tree"

You can see the sketch quality in the above picture.  Very much like a storyboard picture.  Plus the bunnies are kind of Thumper-esque (Disney's Bambi film came out two years prior, 1942). CUTE!


NOW.  The next piece is called "Lady."  This story is what would eventually become Lady and the Tramp in 1955 but it is not exactly the same.  Firstly, there is NO Tramp!  *GASP*  The evil Siamese Cats are there though, and they are the villains that would eventually become the rat in the final filmed version. The book lists the original author as "Walt Disney Studio," but future books based on the film usually cite Ward Greene as the original author of the story.  The 6 pictures in this book a very different then the film that would come out over 10 years later.  The picture I am including show how the format really works for this particular set of illustrations.

If you love Lady and the Tramp,  I've heard Disney's Lady and the Tramp: The Sketchbook Series has some excellent stuff in it.  I don't know if the drawings from this book are in there though. Little Golden Books would eventually release a book called Walt Disney's Lady, in 1954, one year before the film.  But it is just adapted by Samuel Armstrong from what the film version was going to be at that point and it is not the same as this original story. The Tramp is in that version, and it also has a different ending which is also rat free (and the whole book is CAT free for that matter, weird!).  It ends with a FIRE!

Yes, I am a Lady and the Tramp fan.  So the new-to-me version of "Lady" in Walt Disney's Surprise Package makes this an awesome book indeed.

"Chicken Little" is next.  The short film of this story came out in 1943 (the year BEFORE this book, and it is available on DVD along with some other great shorts). So, the pictures look exactly like that film including the yo-yo wielding titular character.

Next, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."  This adaption is amazing.  It is filled with awesome Disney illustrations that look nothing like the final 1951 film (7 years after this book).  I don't know if the 30 pictures included in this book have ever made it into another book. If you are an Alice fan, YOU MUST HAVE THIS BOOK!  Look at this example:

Nice, right? The only thing that is the same is Alice's dress (colors and pattern).  The story is almost 20 pages long too. The length tells me that there may be a separate edition of this out there somewhere (like the Walt Disney's Little Library version of Through the Picture Frame).  I haven't seen it, but I am sure it is out there.


Next comes, "The Wind in the Willows" (or the second part of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, as some of us grew up knowing it, ha ha). The illustrations in this story are almost exactly like the final film version (1949, 5 years later!)! Disney had their character design totally down in 1944.  The 11 pictures are crisp and fun. 

Mr. Toad on a wild ride

Next we have, "Peter Pan and the Pirates."  This story was in the sketch stage at Disney studios when this book came out. The film would eventually come out in 1953 (titled Peter Pan, of course).  The 13 illustrations have the overall feel that would eventually become the characters in the final film.

Lost Boys in "Peter Pan and the Pirates"

There is a picture that has Tinkerbell in it, but she is so tiny she just looks like a glowing dragonfly, but if you look at the front cover (top of the page)... Do you see that black haired, angry looking pixie?  There aren't any other pixies in this book!  It could be the original concept of Tink!

Disney was pretty close to their final character concepts at this stage.  Here is Captain Hook and Wendy:

"Peter and the Wolf" comes next. Does that get the music started in your head?  I know it does for me.   The illustrations in this story aren't very close to the final film.  This is surprising since Make Mine Music (which features this short film and some others) would only come out two years later in 1946.  Maybe the stylized illustrations were a conscious choice by the Disney studio for this book, who knows?

I still like the illustrations, they are just... different.


Next comes "The Square World"  based on the story written by "The Walt Disney Studio."  The illustrations for this story are so unlike most Disney productions it is shocking, and they were working on making an animated film of it too.  Sadly, the film was never finished. There are six illustrations in this book.

Obviously, there are some World War II themes going on here! The basic plot is about a being named "The Mighty-Highty-Tighty" who wants everyone in the land to look like him... square. This very short story is stupendous and it is a great allegory for how wrong prejudice and racism are.  Here is one more picture (of racial harmony).

Are those Barbapapa? Nope, they're "The Square World" kids.

Last, but not least, comes "Happy Valley."  This one features Mickey, Donald, and Goofy!

I don't usually keep my cheese in the fruit bowl, but it looks nice.

If that picture is ringing a bell, it might be because this story would eventually be part of the 1947 film Fun and Fancy Free in a section called "Mickey and the Beanstalk."  BUT, this story is different. Mickey trades his cow to the Queen (Minnie Mouse) who gives him the magic beans that will do different things depending on how the moon is.  The beans are planted and the beanstalk carries the house high into the clouds.  Now, let's cut to the end of the story....during the shape shifting of the Giant into a big bunny rabbit.  After he does the rabbit, he makes himself into a super giant, but then while making himself smaller again, he gets too small (and younger).  He becomes so young he forgets the magic words to change himself into anything he wants.  Mickey and friends carry the giant back to their house via piggyback where they fall asleep.  By morning, the beanstalk has shrunk (because the moon was different).  Then they go see the queen and she pardons the giant and she gives him a job as her footman.  Oh, and they use what some consider an un-politically correct term by calling him the oxymoron "midget giant."

Mickey, Minnie, and the not-so-giant giant

And that, readers, is the end of this huge children's story collection.  Goodies galore!  I could have done a blog on each story!

If you look hard enough, you can find this book for a decent price... of course, if you want a pristine first edition, you'll most likely be paying much more.

Here are some links where you can find it on Amazon.com (I list what the original Amazon entry says that makes them different... please read the individual seller's write up for more detail):


Walt Disney's Surprise Package (listing says 1944, 1st edition)

Walt Disney's Surprise Package (listing says 1944, edition unknown)

Walt Disney's Surprise Package (listing says 1945, edition unknown)

Walt Disney's Surprise Package (listing says 1945, 3rd edition)

Walt Disney's Surprise Package (listing says 1946, 4th edition)

Walt Disney's Surprise Package (listing says 1948, edition unknown... it also says 76 pages which is much less then the edition I reviewed, a story or two may be missing... ALSO, one of the used copies under this link is listed as a 1944 first edition with a dust jacket)

Walt Disney's Surprise Package (listing says 1948, edition unknown)


Thank you for your time. Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the Zipperump-a-zoos bite!

Cheshire Cat in Walt Disney's Surprise Package

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You... This One, in Fact!

A little over one year, and several books ago, I blogged on here last. I shall return quite soon!

. . .

What? You want to know what is coming up? Well, I have A LOT of books that deserve more recognition. A LOT! Mercer Mayer? OF COURSE! Other authors? YES!

In the meantime, check out Mercer Mayer's latest (non-Little Critter) book called, Too Many Dinosaurs. It is scheduled to come out September 12, 2011! It looks like it is going to be a great book.

The books is going to be about a boy who wants a puppy, but ends up with a triceratops and one heck of a dinosaur dilema! I have seen a sketch of one of the pages, and it looks to be a lot of fun. Look at the cover below and try to tell me that those dinosaurs don't look too cool for words! It isn't a new Little Monster or Professor Wormbog book, but dinosaurs come close.




Speaking of Professor Wormbog... DING DING DING, Mercer Mayer's Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo is available again in hardcover from Fastpencil Premier for a VERY reasonable price (it is a part of their new Mercer Mayer Classic Collectibles/Little Monster Classic Collectibles line)! YAY! REJOICE! It is listed as being a little over 9 x 8 inches in size. So it won't be as huge as the awesome and amazing original release. It is also available in various eBook formats including Kindle and iBooks! BUT because of the size difference, I recommend getting the 1976 original Golden Books/Goldencraft oversized release still.

See you soon!

An Interview with Kealan Patrick Burke, an awesome author!

As many people out there know, Kealan Patrick Burke wrote the wonderful Bram Stoker Award winning Turtle Boy series, which so far includes: The Turtle Boy, The Hides, Vessels, and The Turtle Boy: Peregrine's Tale (which has its first three books coming soon in digital format from Lovecraft Press, and the fourth coming soon in hardcover from Cemetery Dance Publications). Mr. Burke also has written numerous short stories too (many of which were collected in Ravenous Ghosts and The Number 121 to Pennsylvania and Others). His other books and stories include Master of the Moors, Currency of Souls, You In, Looking Glass (a collaborative round robin style story with many other top names in the horror genre), Seldom Seen in August, The Quiet, Midlisters, and more.

BOOK 'EM BOB: Hello Mr. Burke, thank you for agreeing to letting us here at Book 'em Bob subject you with our questionable questions. As a fan of your writing, I am very excited to be able to ask you some of the things that I have been wanting to know about for awhile (and I hope other people want to know these things too). Let’s start off with an easy one: What will we see in the future from the Timmy Quinn/The Turtle Boy series?

KEALAN: I think all that's left for Timmy Quinn is the final novel Nemesis, which should wrap everything up. This one has taken the longest to write mostly because of developments in my personal life. Since the release of my last book, The Number 121 to Pennsylvania & Others, things hit a kind of downward slope for me, which caused me to relocate and stop writing. There were also several health issues, which thankfully have passed. But I'm back in the game now, and among the projects that need to be completed, and sooner rather than later, is the last chapter in Timmy's story. I think I've matured quite a bit since we first met him, and consequently, so will he by the time his story is done.

BMB: I'm glad to hear that Timmy's story will get all wrapped up... eventually. I know some of what of you’ve been going through in your personal life, and it isn't my place to know or try to find out more. So, I won't push that subject. What is your favorite pastime and why?

KEALAN: Photography. I like getting out armed with my camera and just snapping things that interest me, be they nature or people, or anything in between.

BMB: Wow. I would've never guessed. Any other hobbies?

KEALAN: Outside of that, I'm fairly addicted to survival horror games on the PS3 or XBOX 360. I'm also a fan of good TV, like Deadwood and Lost, etc. I enjoy hanging out with friends too, to counter somewhat the effects of the aforementioned solitary pursuits.

BMB: Friends are always nice to have around, especially after shooting zombies for hours in a dark room by yourself. Ha ha. Will we be seeing any future anthology or magazine appearances from you soon?

KEALAN: There are a few things due. "Cobwebs," which originally appeared in Pete Crowther's wonderful Postscripts magazine (#11, Summer 2007), will be reprinted in the next Shivers anthology.

BMB: So there WILL be a Shivers VI, I knew it! Cemetery Dance hasn’t announced it yet. Anything else on the horizon?

KEALAN: I have a short teleplay ("Snowmen") in Rich Chizmar's Smoke & Mirrors collection (also from Cemetery Dance), and a reprint of "The Man Who Breaks the Bad News" in James Roy Daley's Best New Zombie Tales: Volume 1.

BMB: I've seen the Tom Melnick cover art for Best New Zombie Tales, and it is pretty sweet looking (it looks like a fun anthology too). What else?

KEALAN: A segment in CD's round robin book The Crane House: A Halloween Story, and on the nonfiction front, I wrote the feature review for the Bentley Little special issue of Cemetery Dance magazine (issue #64, coming soon). My output has decreased considerably over the past few years, but that will change soon.

BMB: I am glad to hear that will be changing because I know that I’m looking forward to reading more writing from you. Please tell us how the anthology that you edited called Quietly Now came about.

KEALAN: It came about after a conversation I had with Tom Monteleone at Horrorfind one year. We were discussing Charlie Grant and I expressed my desire to do an anthology of stories and essays as a tribute to him, and using his signature style. Tom was thrilled by the idea, and it was a fortuitous time to mention it. Tom and his wife Elizabeth were in the process of resurrecting Borderlands Press. Tom basically said once it was up and running, they'd be glad to publish the book. And they did.

BMB: Awesome. That anthology is pretty hard to come by, but I know it is out there, and I know I want to read it. Here's a random question: If you could be any animal, besides human, what would you like to be and why?

KEALAN: A bird, big enough not to be prey. I'd fly the f**k away from all the drama whenever the mood took me.

BMB: Sadly beautiful. At least you're not pecking anyone's eyeballs out like Jeff Strand. I saw that you have a role in Greg Lamberson's Slime City II: Slime City Massacre. Please tell us what the filming was like? Did you enjoy the experience, and will we see more of Kealan Patrick Burke on the silver screen?

KEALAN: It was a blast, and it was also very educational. It was also a lot of hard work, and dirty work at that. Filming for weeks in the ruins of a train station gets under your skin (literally) and being covered in SFX goop a lot of the time didn't help much, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I met a lot of really talented people on that shoot, some of whom have remained good friends. Long days, long nights, an awe-inspiring location, and a wonderful bunch of people, is the best way to sum it all up for me.
As for more movie work, I won't say no, nor do I have any illusions of movie stardom. I did the movie for the experience, and I don't think beyond that. (NOTE: you can read more about KPB's Slime City Massacre expeience at his blog, here: http://kealanpatrick.wordpress.com/)

BMB: Uh oh, time for the word association speed round! I'll mention the word, you respond with the first thing that pops into your head. Ready, set...go!... "Robin"

KEALAN: Batman

BMB: "Dinosaur"

KEALAN: Raptor

BMB: "Utensil"

KEALAN: Spoon

BMB: "Trollusk"

KEALAN: The f*ck?

BMB: (note to self: Very similar to what Jeff Strand said about Zipperump-a-zoos in our interview with him... maybe 70s Mercer Mayer monster references just don't work with modern genre authors, but the confusion is fun, *evil grin*) "Green"

KEALAN: Slime

BMB: (I saw that one coming) "Splat"

KEALAN: Mosquito

BMB: "Tortoise"

KEALAN: Slow

BMB: "Chocolate"

KEALAN: Snickers

BMB: "Burke"

KEALAN: A**hole

BMB: "Time"

KEALAN: Out

*BING*

BMB: (scribbles down notes on the psyche evaluation sheet with a check mark by "saner than Jeff Strand") I have heard mumblings on the Internet about a book of yours called KIN can you please tell us more about it?

KEALAN: Once upon a time, I contributed to a discussion about torture porn, and, more specifically, the kids-running-afoul-of-inbred-cannibals subgenre. I bemoaned the lack of story, and of character depth in both the heroes and villains, and was told to put up or shut up. So I wrote KIN. It's my longest novel to date. And that's all I'll say for now.

BMB: Ooh, nice. I can’t wait to read it and see who is releasing it… By the way, who is releasing it?

KEALAN: *says nothing*

BMB: Well, since you aren’t giving up the release information, I'm not going to push it... Nope. Not me... Come on, Mr. Burke, tell us... Please. Please. Please. Pretty please? Pllllleeeeeeease...with snickers and gummy bears on top?

KEALAN: *mouth firmly closed*

BMB: Crub. Well, thank you very much Mr. Burke for letting us take up your time like this. I feel very honored (even if you’d don’t know what a Trollusk is). In my opinion, everyone needs to at least read The Turtle Boy by Kealan Patrick Burke. It is a modern masterpiece. Thankfully, it will become more readily available very soon via Lovecraft Press. Also, in the meantime, if you’d like to get creeped-out, go watch “Peekers” a short film directed by Mark Steensland here http://www.playwithme.tv/. It is based on Kealan Patrick Burke’s short story of the same name, and it is scripted by Rick Hautala. You will never hear the words “Play with me” the same again.

Along with all the above links, you can also see the following for more Kealan Patrick Burke goodness:
Taverns of the Dead edited by Kealan Patrick Burke
Shivers V (featuring "The Acquaintance") edited by Richard Chizmar
Shroud magazine #2 (featuring KPB's "Haven")
Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet (featuring "A Letter From Phoenix")
Concrete Gods (with Harry Shannon)
Night Visions 12 edited by KPB
Brimstone Turnpike edited by KPB
Tales from the Gorezone edited by KPB