Wolves and pigs have always been excellent fodder for suspenseful children's stories, and Swine Lake proves it once again, this time in the masterful hands of the late James Marshall and Maurice Sendak. Marshall wrote the book fully intending to illustrate it himself, but when he died in 1992, his good friend Sendak was charged with the challenging task of bringing this delightful work to life. And come to life it does! The rollicking tale opens with a mangy, hungry wolf on the prowl in an unfamiliar part of town. Soon the wolf's nose twitches uncontrollably. He smells pigs! Just across the street is a theatre marquee bearing the words: "Swine Lake. Boarshoi Ballet."" The wolf can scarcely conceal his delight and ""Soon the aroma of pig, thinly disguised by French perfume, was making him swoon."" Snatching matinee tickets from a swanky ticket-scalping sow who arrives in a limousine, he enters the theatre. ""Had the ticket taker been more observant, he would have noticed the long claws and much that follows could have been avoided,"" Marshall adds parenthetically. The wolf is escorted by a distracted usher to his box seat, just a short pounce from the stage. When the show begins, the wolf ponders which might be the juiciest pig. But as he assesses the probable quality of the pork, he begins to get lost in the magical story and decides to put off his attack until Act Two ... and in fact forgets to make his move altogether. That very night he breaks into his piggy bank and spends his last penny on a ticket for the evening performance of Swine Lake . Anyone who is familiar with Swan Lake will be positively giddy to behold Marshall and Sendak's fabulously porcine take on this well-known ballet, but certainly no cultural context is necessary to appreciate the simple plot. With a winning story about the power of the theatre to soothe the hungriest, toothiest of beasts, this fabulous team has made an absolutely historic contribution to children's literature. Fans will see a lighter, funnier side to Sendak than they've seen before, as Marshall's comic spirit gently guides his paintbrush and pens. (Ages 4 and older) --Karin Snelson, Amazon.com "

 

There are 48 pages in this book. This book was published 2000 by HarperCollins Publishers .

Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) was born on June 10, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrant parents from Poland. A largely self-taught artist, Sendak illustrated over one hundred-fifty books during his sixty-year career. Sendak began a second career as a costume and stage designer in the late 1970s, designing operas. He remains the most honored childrens book artist in history. He was the recipient of the 1964 Caldecott Medal, the 1970 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 1983 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the 2003 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. In 1996 President Bill Clinton presented him with the National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America. In 1972 Sendak moved to Ridgefield, Connecticut with his partner of fifty years, the psychiatrist Dr. Eugene Glynn (1926-2007). See https://www. sendakfoundation. org/.