Watch Out! A Giant!

Cleveland / New York: Collins World, 1978. First Edition. Large Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket - Pictorial Cover. 20x20x20. Signed by author. Signed by illustrator. 1978 first edition (not the common 2002 reissue). Inscribed and signed by author, with a cat doodle, on half-title page ('For Eileen & Sarah with love, Eric Carle'). Minor wear to corners, moveable flaps all present and functional. Unpaginated. "Two children go out to play and accidentally find themselves in the garden of a ferocious giant who catches them and plans to eat them for his dinner. When they try to escape (through trapdoors and tunnels made possible by the die-cut pages) they find themselves in even more serious danger! Beautiful pictures, easy words, and lots of action make this a delight for any child just learning to read. Ingeniously die-cut pages add to the fun of a delicious scary (but not too frightening) story with a cozily happy ending. Eric Carle says he created this book as an introduction to the world of fairy tales for the very young. Feeling that most of the classic tales are intended for somewhat older readers, he decided to write a story that would contain the elements of these stories - the excitement and humor, the straightforward acceptance of fantasy and magic - in a picturebook format for the very youngest children. His pictures for this book are cut and layered collages of specially prepared papers, overpainted with ink, crayon and tempera. (Inventory #: 2347224)