About the Author

DOROTHY MESERVE KUNHARDT (1901-1979) was an American author of books for small children and is best known for Pat the Bunny (1940), one of the all-time best-selling children's books in the United States. Her first book, Junket Is Nice (which is also part of the The New York Review Children's Collection), was a success when it appeared in 1933 and was followed by Now Open the Box, Lucky Mrs. Ticklefeather, Brave Mr. Buckingham, and Tiny Animal Stories. Kunhardt published nearly fifty books, including several nonfiction works for adults about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War (her father amassed a legendary collection of Civil War-era photographs and memorabilia). Several years after her death, Philip B. Kunhardt Jr. remembered his mother's boundless curiosity and appreciation for the way young people observe the world, writing in The New York Times that "for Dorothy Kunhardt a children's book was nothing more or less than a way to talk to children."

Reviews

"What is amazing about Now Open the Box is how fresh it feels today ... A boldly told, wayward tale." The Observer "A page turner, as much fun for parents as for children, with simple but irresistible illustrations." Country Life "With Dorothy Kunhardt, words come to the fore, words running on and piling up and repeating themselves, stopping only to put a question-WRONG! then rushing on again until the listener, on tenterhooks, can stand it no longer." Barbara Bader, American Picturebooks from Noah's Ark to The Beast Within For Dorothy Kunhardt a children's book was nothing more or less than a way to talk to children. And if along the way the pages of the book had to float in a bath, had to squeak, had to bounce, had to light up, had to change color, had to feel furry or be in the shape of a snake or an elephant for feeling under the covers, if the book had to have a lock on it, a hole through it, a smell all its own, even if the book had to be eaten, that was O.K.-because that was all part of the delight." The New York Times