Attempted Bloggery: Karen's Copy of Pip Squeak: Mouse in Shining Armor by Robert Kraus and Richard Oldden

Even more impressive than a copy of Pip Squeak: Mouse in Shining Armor (1971) personalized with a drawing by illustrator Richard Oldden—such as we saw here in yesterday's post—is a copy personalized with sketches by both Oldden and the book's author Robert Kraus. Oldden's drawing for reader Karen featured Pip Squeak with his sword raised as well as Hopper, the mouse's toad. Kraus, himself a prolific New Yorker cartoonist and magazine cover illustrator, provided the book's new owner with a somewhat generic drawing of a rabbit holding a flower.

This leads one to wonder how Kraus decided whether to illustrate his own stories or assign them to others? His obituary dated August 30, 2001, by Myrna Oliver of the Los Angeles Times, and cited by Wikipedia on its Robert Kraus page, sheds a little light here:

A decade later, the budding author decided to establish a children's book publishing house, dubbing it Windmill and installing himself as president. His idea was to ask artist friends to create the books—but he soon learned they were more interested in illustrating than writing.

So he wrote the stories, albeit painfully, recalling: "I love drawing . . . Giving my stories to somebody else was like giving away a child."