Search Results: Authors starting with V from Books of Wonder

VAN ALLSBURG, Chris. The Sweetest Fig. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. 4to, [32]pp. Black quarter-cloth stamped in gold with decoratively blind-stamped purple boards. Mustard endpapers; color illustrations on every page. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Signed by the author, two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Van Allsburg.
First edition. Monsieur Bibot is a cold-hearted dentist. When an old woman pays him with two figs which she claims will make his dreams come true, he doesn't believe her and throws her out. However, the day after eating one of the figs, he discovers that she had told the truth B his dreams did come true! Filled with greedy hopes for money and power, Monsieur Bibot makes plans for how he will use the remaining fig, only to get his comeuppance from the last place he expected B his long-suffering dog!

VAN ALLSBURG, Chris. The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979. Oblong 4to, [32]pp. White speckled cloth with spine stamped in gold foil and front decoratively stamped in blind. Black endpapers; b&w illustrations on every other page. Spine ends a tad rubbed, else a fine copy in original pictorial dust jacket (spine slightly sunned, slight wear to upper edge, upper spine fold, and spine ends). With an illustrated bookplate, signed by two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Van Allsburg, laid in.
First edition. 1980 Caldecott Honor Book! Two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Van Allsburg's first book! When young Alan Mitz agrees to look after Miss Hester's dog Fritz, he doesn't know the adventures he will find when he chases after Fritz into the garden of the retired magician, Abdul Gasazi. Filled with humor and magic, this first book by Van Allsburg introduced his spectacular talent for half-tone illustrations with unusual perspectives and breathtaking use of light and dark.

VAN LOON, Hendrik. The Story of the Bible. NY: Boni & Liveright [1923]. 8vo, xxvi 452pp. Purple cloth stamped in gilt with color pictorial label affixed to front. Gray endpapers; 13 color and 3 b&w plates plus numerous b&w illustrations. Spine ends a tad rubbed, faint damp stain to rear cover, pages lightly aged, sheets opposite color plates lightly damp stained in upper and lower margins with almost imperceptible affect to top edge of plates. Otherwise, a clean, tight copy in original color pictorial dust jacket (some small chips and closed tears at top of rear panel, spine panel a bit sunned, rear panel lightly damp-stained). Scare in dust jacket.
First edition, with promotional bookmark from the publisher promoting this and Van Loon's two earlier titles laid in. Written the year after Van Loon won the first Newbery Medal for The Story of Mankind in 1922, this book is Van Loon's attempt to tell "the story [of the bible] as I personally (and in a most uncontroversional [sic] fashion) would like to… Read More

VANDERVEER, Helen. Little Slam Bang. Illustrated by Fletcher Cransom. Chicago: P.F. Volland [1928]. 12mo, 38pp + 1 advt. Light green cloth spine with color pictorial boards. Color pictorial endpapers; color illustrations throughout. Light rubbing to spine ends and edges, boards lightly soiled, else an internally clean, bright copy.
First edition. A wonderful copy of this scarce Volland picture book, which tells a gentle bedtime story about an elephant family and their interactions with their fellow animals around the forest.

VERNE, Jules. A Journey to the Centre of the Earth. NY: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. [1874]. 8vo, [vi] 306pp + [10]advts. Brown cloth decoratively stamped in gilt and blind. Yellow endpapers; 20 full-page b&w illustrations. Upper spine end heavily worn, lower spine end and corners a tad rubbed, spine darkened with age, front cover a bit scuffed, light evidence of something removed from front fixed endpaper, else an internally clean, tight copy.
Probable first US edition based on ads. Professor Otto Lidenbrock's adventure through an extinct volcano to a subterranean world of luminous rocks, antediluvian forests, and fantastic marine life — a living past that holds the secrets to the origins of human existence. The basis for multiple films including the 2008 version starring Brendan Fraser and the 1959 film starring James Mason.

VOIGT, Cynthia. Dicey's Song. NY: Atheneum, 1982. 8vo, [viii] 196pp. Light brown cloth decoratively stamped in bronze. Two-page illustrated title page. Slight rubbing to lower spine end and lower corners, else a clean, tight copy in original color pictorial dust jacket (no medal affixed). With a bookplate signed by the author, Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt, laid-in.
First edition. 1983 Newbery Medal Winner! The second book in the award-winning The Tillerman Cycle. Having been abandoned by their mother, after her breakdown, Dicey and her three siblings are finally settling in with their grandmother. Gram's rundown farm isn't perfect, but they can stay together as a family — which is all Dicey really wanted. Now she must face resuming a life where she is no longer the one in charge and figuring out who exactly Dicey Tillerman is.