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Philip and Erin Stead Featured in The New York Times

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Image: Erin Stead 

The New York Times recently featured a story on Philip (BFA 2003) and Erin Stead’s new book, an expanded version of an unfinished fairy tale by Mark Twain. 

This fall, Doubleday will release The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine,” an expanded version of the story that was fleshed out and reimagined by the children’s book author-and-illustrator team of Philip and Erin Stead.

From Twain’s spare ur-text, the Steads created a 152-page illustrated story featuring talking animals, giants, dragons, a kidnapped prince and a wicked king. While the original work has a timeless quality, the Steads added a postmodern twist: Twain himself makes an appearance in the book, to argue with the author, Philip Stead, about the direction the story takes.

Finishing a partial manuscript by one of the country’s most revered writers was terrifying at times, the Steads said.

We said yes before our brains could tell us it was a terrible idea and we would never be able to do it,” Mr. Stead said in a telephone interview from the couple’s home studio in Northern Michigan.

A Rediscovered Mark Twain Fairy Tale Is Coming Soon — The New York Times