The Pursuit of Everything: Maira Kalman’s Books for Children

“When I was seven and sitting in a tree in Henry Hudson Park behind our house, I felt that someday I would make up stories.”
Illustration for Chicken Soup, Boots, Viking, 1993
Gouache on paper“When I was seven sitting in a tree in Henry Hudson Park behind our house, I felt that someday I would make up stories. I would be a writer,” wrote Maira Kalman in Chicken Soup, Boots, a book that explores the age-old question “What will you be when you grow up?” The last page of the book shows Maira daydreaming at her desk and illustrates the job of a writer. Maira Kalman always grounds her stories and illustrations in the personal—what happens to her and her family, their pets, what she observes, and what she collects.

Cover illustration for Next Stop, Grand Central, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1999
Gouache on paperIn the fall of 1997, thousands of lucky commuters got to walk through Maira’s version of Grand Central Terminal in New York City when she was commissioned to create six paintings to cover scaffolding during a major renovation. Reproductions of those murals are on view in this gallery. The paintings grew into a book: Next Stop, Grand Central (1999).

“The dog and the goat drive back home in the convertible in a state of great excitement.”
Illustration for 13 Words, by Lemony Snicket, HarperCollins, 2010
Gouache on paperMaira finds great success in her collaborations with other writers and artists. You will learn about her partnership with author Daniel Handler (also known as Lemony Snicket, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events).Her friendship with Daniel Handler started when they met at a dinner in Italy. Handler wanted to meet Maira so badly that he made sure they were seated next to one another. He and Maira have collaborated on five books, including 13 Words. He neatly sums up the quality their work shares: “a soft spot for where suffering and sadness meet the ridiculous.”

“Your Anchor.”
Illustration for Beloved Dog, Penguin Press, 2015
Gouache on paperSince dogs terrified her mother, it seems odd that Maira has them on the brain, yet they appear in every one of her books. The blue-shoe-sporting Bulldog in Your Anchor was the October 7, 2013, cover for The New Yorker magazine. Beloved Dog is a compilation of Maira’s favorite canines, including, of course, her alter ego Max the poet.

Inez Milholland, 1886–1916: Your Voice Matters
Illustration for Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote, written by Kirsten Gillibrand, Alfred A. Knopf, 2018
Gouache on paperMaira painted Inez Milholland riding a white horse and wearing a gold crown and white cape. Milholland was a lawyer who worked for the rights of workers. In 1913 there was a parade in Washington, DC, to support a woman’s right to vote, and Inez led the parade on horseback. Why do you think she decided to wear a gold crown with a star?

Max
Sketch for Ooh-la-la (Max in Love), Viking, 1991
Gouache on paperMax Stravinsky is Maira Kalman’s alter ego, an artist, a poet, and a traveler. Maira describes him: “A bit of my husband, Tibor, but more than a bit of me. A wanderer, observing the absurd. Sometimes innocent and yearning. Sometimes downcast and confused. Well, isn’t that everybody. Max mirrored my life, the trips and funny distractions and observations. The essentialness of it all.”