Rip Van Winkle is an idler who would rather starve for a penny than work for a pound, and his wife is constantly nagging him. In search of peace, Rip heads off to the woods one day with his faithful dog, Wolf. High up in the Catskill Mountains, Rip meets an unusual group of little men. He drinks their strong beverage and falls into a deep sleep. When he awakens, he finds that twenty years have passed – the world has changed and so has he. With vibrant paintings by Leonard Everett Fisher, Eric A. Kimmel’s adaptation of Washington Irving’s classic “Rip Van Winkle” introduces a Rip who reforms as a result of his experience. Rip Van Winkle's Return is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Washington Irving was the first internationally recognized American writer, contributing highly popular works that had been continuously in print for over two centuries. Irving's ability to bring characters to life through vivid descriptions gave the two stories included here their immortality.
Sure to enchant art lovers and Rackham devotees, this edition of all of Rackham's 51 full-page illustrations, plus Irving's complete story, will delight fantasy enthusiasts of all ages.