When I was a kid, I came across a book that I found really interesting.
The introduction recounted a story of an author of children’s books walking into a publisher’s office with a portfolio full of drawings and writings.
He claimed that he had a bunch of wonderful children’s stories that he wanted published, and, for reasons I can’t remember, left the publisher with a single page, and corresponding illustration, from each book, saying that he would return the next day with the rest. The publisher went over the materials, and knew that this author was really something special.
The author never never came back, and the publisher was never able to reach him. So, after years and years of trying to track this guy down, the publisher decided to publish the materials he had, as a compilation, with the book I’m trying to identify being the end result.
Each page contains a small excerpt from one of these stories, and a beautifully detailed illustration. The excerpts are short, maybe a sentence or two. But taken with the the illustrations, every single one of them makes for a compelling introduction, that definitely left you wanting to read the rest. I remember going through this book, thinking that I would do just about anything to read the stories in their entirety.
Every story seemed like it would have strong science fiction/fantasy elements.
Now, I have no clue if the story in the introduction is true. It probably isn’t.
Anyway, I’d love to get a copy of this book and flip through it again. For the life of me, I can’t remember what it’s called. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
ETA: If it helps, I think I was in middle school when I was first exposed to this book, so we’re talking mid-90s.