Whereas I myself tend to think of Aldous Huxley in more psychedelic terms (I read The Doors of Perception when I was like 14 and immediately ran right out and found some blotter acid), most Americans probably remember him more for his dystopian novel Brave New World. As Pamela Paul points out at The New York Times, the next generation might come to think of him as the author of a children’s book:
But what many teenagers — and their parents and younger siblings — don’t know is that Huxley was also the author of a rather charming children’s book, his only foray into the genre. “The Crows of Pearblossom,” which was reissued on Monday by Abrams Books for Young Readers, tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Crow and the nefarious snake who lives downstairs and steals their eggs.
The book has been out of print for years, but not for good reason. The story is clever, wittily told and bristles with spiky humor — and it could quite possibly become a new favorite among schoolchildren. In the reissued edition, Brooklyn-based illustrator Sophie Blackwell transforms the chapter book into a picture book for kids 4 to 8, with detailed, full-color images. According to the book jacket, her father once entered a party as Huxley was leaving. (It does not detail what took place at said soiree.)
Huxley wrote the book for his niece Olivia in 1944, and gave it to her as a Christmas present. The original manuscript was then lost in a fire. Happily, Huxley’s neighbors, the Yosts, kept a copy, which they passed along to Olivia after her uncle’s death in 1963. Four years later, Random House published it as a small format early chapter book, with illustrations by Barbara Cooney (of “Miss Rumphius” fame).