New York is Book Country was a Manhattan street fair and literary celebration begun in 1979 and abruptly cancelled in 2003. Each year, a prominent artist or book illustrator created a poster to mark the event. Oftentimes, the artist was on hand to autograph the poster for attendees. The very first NY is BC featured two posters, one created by Edward Gorey and a second by Maurice Sendak. In subsequent years, only one was issued.

This large, original 24 x 19” color poster by famous children’s illustrator Maurice Sendak (Charlotte and the White Horse, The Nutshell Library, In the Night Kitchen) is the first poster for the festival to be issued (see above). Here, Moishe….a monster from Where the Wild Things Are…rests against the Empire State Building, reading and eating a big apple. In VG+ condition with evidence of tape marks at the corners. The official poster of New York is Book Country, 1979.