Children's book fans won't want to miss....

The Noisy Book Room is one of the delightful surprises at "The Picture Book Reimagined" at the Pratt Gallery (14th St. in Manhattan, near 7th Ave.) For a real pop, see it after the Stuart Davis show at the Whitney, a few blocks away.

The show, curated by Leonard Marcus, focuses on the dual contributions of Pratt Institute--where legendary librarian Anne Carroll Moore began her work--and the Bank Street College of Education--where Lucy Sprague Mitchell researched her "Here and Now" theories, with help from such luminaries as Margaret Wise Brown.

I was surprised at how thrilled I was to see original art by Maurice Sendak...the seal he drew for the Bank Street awards.

Children's book appreciators--and especially illustrators--will find so much of interest in this show, including a preliminary dummy by Kadir Nelson and one of illustrator Clement Hurd's preliminary studies for GOODNIGHT MOON. There are 37artists represented, almost all Pratt graduates, including Pat Cummings, Tomie dePaola, Betsy and Ted Lewin, Arnold Lobel, James Ransome, Robert Sabuda, Cyndy Szekeres, Leonard Weisgard, and my co-teacher, Steve Henry.

The show runs until September 15th and the closing reception, from 6-8:30 is open to the public. I'll be on the panel that starts at 7, moderated by Leonard Marcus.