Philip and Erin Stead Featured in The New York Times

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