ARNOLD LOBEL (1933-1987)
"What if Frog has fallen into a deep hole and cannot get out?" * "Toad opened the door once more but Frog was not on the path." Together, two preliminary drawings for the double-page spread on pages 56-57 for the story "Christmas Eve" from Lobel's book Frog and Toad All Year. (New York: Harper & Row, 1979; reprinted: World's Work, 1980). Pen and ink on stiff paper. Frog in hole measures 300x227 mm; 11¾x9 inches, sheet. Toad at door measures 381x267 mm;15x10½ inches (but inset with text and illustration measure to first drawing) with printed text overlay at top. Both unsigned.Provenance: The Artist's Estate; Private collection, New York.Arnold Lobel was one of the greatest children’s book illustrators of his generation. As gifted with words as pictures, he was one of a very few people to be honored by both the Newbery and Caldecott Committees. Although he won the Caldecott Medal for Fables (1980), he earned his immortality with the highly successful Frog and Toad series. “Lobel dealt head on with the complexities, misunderstandings, and emotional swings that define a true friendship,” fellow illustrator Mo Willems has observed. “I can think of few creators who cared as much about his characters’ emotional well-being as he did.”