Mark Twain's Lost Children's Book Was Discovered by a Cookbook Author

The unpublished manuscript of a long-lostMark Twainchildren'sbookabout a boywho eats a flowerand can suddenly talk to animals has finally hit shelves.

The publishing ofThe Purloining of Prince Oleomargarineis the result of Winthrop University English Professor John Bird, whofound the story back in 2011。在访问加州大学的Mark Twain论文和项目时，在伯克利对计划的标记Twain食谱研究，鸟注意到一个标记为“oleomargarare”的文件，并在拉动它后看到Twain的手写笔记。

"It was a packet with the manuscript and somebody had written on the top of it, 'A burlesque fairy tale of no use,'"Bird told CBS News。"But I decided, 'Well, it's not food, but I'll read it anyway.'"

The author ofMark Twain and Metaphoreventually turned over the story fragments—a total of 16 pages of handwritten pencil notes about a fairy tale Twain dreamed up for his two daughters—to Cindy Lovell, the then director of the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut.

Philip and Erin Stead, the author and illustrator of the Caldecott Medal-winning bookA Sick Day for Amos McGee, were then asked to complete the book, though they were given little-to-no information about the project when they were first approached by the publisher.

"We were asked to complete this story," Phil Stead recalled. "We were asked to fill in the gaps. So that began the most difficult and most terrifying three years of my life."

"I have to draw like myself," Erin Stead told CBS News. "However, I was trying to impress Twain! I think Phil and I both felt like there was a ghost in the studio [as we worked]."

The author-illustrator couple takes writing and illustrator credits on the book, alongside Twain. Instead of attempting to write in Twain's voice, they opted to frame it as a story "told to me by my friend, Mr. Mark Twain." If something in the notes didn't sit well with Phil Stead, he was allowed to voice that issue.

The Steads acknowledge this unique collaboration between the living and the long-gone literally within the book, by turning Twain into a character and including intermittent story interruptions by Philip and Twain as they enjoy each other's company (and some tea) at an imagined meeting.

You can get one of the 250,000 first print copies of the 160-page bookThe Purloining of Prince Oleomargarineatmost major book retailers。