This facsimile edition of a 1922 children's book features seventy-three
dynamic and whimsical woodcut illustrations--the first woodcuts that the
famed American craftsman Wharton Esherick produced. A high-quality
replica authorized by the Wharton Esherick Museum, this book reveals the
foundation of Esherick's direction as an artist. Edited by Museum
director Paul Eisenhauer, it also features a foreword by Museum
assistant curator Laura Heemer. The illustrations frame verses that
introduce children to the principles of evolution, a highly
controversial topic at the time: the book was published three years
before the famous Scopes "Monkey" trial of 1925 that resulted in the
inclusion of the teaching of evolution in public schools. Drawn by the
excitement of the controversy, Esherick threw his passion into these
illustrations. Afterward he would go on to carve over 300 woodcuts,
leading to decorative carving, and ultimately, to Esherick's realization
that he was a sculptor rather than a painter.