The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine

New York Times Bestseller A School Library Journal Best Book of 2017 A never-before-published,previously unfinished Mark Twain children’s story is brought to life by Philip and Erin Steadcreators of the Caldecott Medal-winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee. In a hotel in Paris one evening in 1879Mark Twain sat with his young daughterswho begged their father for a story. Twain began telling them the tale of Johnnya poor boy in possession of some magical seeds. LaterTwain would jot down some rough notes about the storybut the tale was left unfinished . . . until now. Plucked from the Mark Twain archive at the University of California at BerkeleyTwain’s notes now form the foundation of a fairy tale picked up over a century later. With only Twain’s fragmentary script and a story that stops partway as his guideauthor Philip Stead has written a tale that imagines what might have been if Twain had fully realized this work. Johnnyforlorn and alone except for his pet chickenmeets a kind woman who gives him seeds that change his fortuneallowing him to speak with animals and sending him on a quest to rescue a stolen prince. In the face of a bullying tyrant kingJohnny and his animal friends come to understand that generosityempathyand quiet courage are gifts more precious in this world than power and gold. Illuminated by Erin Stead’s gracefulhumorousand achingly poignant artworkthis is a story that reaches through time and brings us a new book from America’s most legendary writerenvisioned by two of today’s most important names in children’s literature. A Bank Street College of Education 2018 Best Children’s Book of the Year \