A Hole Is to Dig: A First Book of First Definitions
A Hole is to Dig: A First Book of Definitions
Written by Ruth Krauss
Illustrated by Maurice Sendak
New York, Harper and Brothers, 1952
5.5" x 6.75"
Process and finished art
Kerlan Collection, Children's Literature Research Collections
University of Minnesota Libraries
The inspiration for this small but consequential book came from Yale University child psychologist Arnold Gesell's observation that a five-year old "is a pragmatist. His definitions are in terms of use: A horse is to ride; a fork is to eat." In 1950, Ruth Krauss began collecting more such definitions—in part at the Bank Street School—and then invited the unknown young artist her publisher had paired her with to choose which definitions he wished to illustrate. A Hole Is to Dig became Maurice Sendak's breakthrough success and marked the start of a fruitful, decade-long collaboration with Krauss.
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