Maud and Miska Petersham

Two pen and ink, gouache watercolor on board, for Margery Clark’s Poppy Seed Cakes (New York: Doubleday, 1924). Each measures 6 x 4-3/4 inches. One signed in full at upper left.

Maud Fuller Petersham (1890–1971) and Miska Petersham (1888–1960) were American writers and illustrators of children’s books, illustrating 50 books together, her American background and his Hungarian background created a most colorful juxtaposition of simple linear design and simple compositions. During their stay in Woodstock, NY, they illustrated some of their important books: Carl Sandburg’s Rootabaga Stories and Margery Clark’s The Poppyseed Cakes and Johanna Spyri’s Heidi, but they are most famous for their Caldecott winning book The Rooster Crows (1945).