Marzipan Pig - Hardcover

Russell Hoban (1925–2011) was the author of more than seventy books for children and adults. He worked as a commercial artist and advertising copywriter before embarking on a career as a children’s author while in his early thirties. During the 1960s Hoban and his wife, Lillian, worked at a prodigious rate, producing as many as six books in a single year, including The Sorely Trying Day (published by The New York Review Children’s Collection). Among Hoban’s novels for adults are Turtle Diary (published by NYRB Classics), Riddley Walker, The Bat Tattoo, and My Tango with Barbara Strozzi. He lived in London from 1969 until his death.
 
Quentin Blake is one of the most celebrated children’s book illustrators working today, having illustrated more than three hundred books by such authors as Russell Hoban, Joan Aiken, and Roald Dahl. A prolific writer of books for children himself, Blake was appointed the first Children’s Laureate of England in 1999.

“Children—the least sentimental beings on this planet—will recognize this remarkable book for what it is, a story about the great sweet mysteries of love and mortality.” —Kathryn Davis 

"Hoban gives each [character] here an individual personality, grounding the story so that what might have been bizarre or pretentious is matter-of-fact and affecting. Blake's watercolors are understated yet so expressive they make an owl's love for the glowing light of a taxi meter or a worker bee's kindness to a dying hibiscus flower entirely believable." —Martha V. Parravano

"Each new turn is the occasion for some entertaining repartee as well as implicit ruminations on love between two beings that may not share a language or seem to communicate. This is all more accessible and fun than it may sound in summary. Hoban's deft, poetic style is perfect for sharing aloud; Blake's many humorous illustrations (black-and-white and thus more subdued than usual) enliven the attractive format. A good choice for young readers who enjoy fantasy." —Kirkus Reviews

"Exploring the same themes of love and its redeeming power as in The Mouse and His Child, Hoban incorporates humor and adventure in this short, fable-like story. Blake's charcoal-and-ink drawings charmingly illuminate the text." —Publishers Weekly