Big Fat Little Lit

Little Lit

by Art Spiegelman (Editor), Françoise Mouly (Editor)

New in paperback for the very first time comes the New York Times bestselling Little Lit series! Choice comic stories culled from the three bestselling comic collections edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Little Once Upon a Time, Little Strange Stories for Strange Kids, and Little It Was a Dark and Silly Night. The gorgeous paperback features flaps and beautifully reproduced full-color interiors. Hilarious and charming, the collection contains comics from such award-winning and bestselling authors and artists as Harry Bliss, Daniel Clowes, Ian Falconer, Jules Feiffer, Neil Gaiman, Crockett Johnson, Barbara McClintock, David Sedaris, J. Otto Seibold, Maurice Sendak, Lemony Snicket, and Art Spiegelman.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Humor, Short Stories, Graphic Novels Comics, Childrens, Young Adult

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2006

About the author

Art Spiegelman is an American cartoonist, editor, and cultural innovator whose work has profoundly influenced the perception of comics as a legitimate art form, blending literary sophistication with experimental visual storytelling. Emerging from the underground comix movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Spiegelman quickly distinguished himself with a distinctive approach that combined meticulous craftsmanship, psychological insight, and narrative complexity, challenging conventions of sequential art and the boundaries between personal memoir and historical record. He co-founded the landmark anthology Raw with his wife, Françoise Mouly, which became a platform for cutting-edge, avant-garde cartoonists from around the world, blending surrealist imagery, literary experimentation, and bold visual ideas that redefined the possibilities of the medium. Spiegelman is best known for his groundbreaking graphic novel Maus, a haunting, deeply personal depiction of his father’s experiences as a Holocaust survivor, which used anthropomorphic characters to explore trauma, memory, and identity with unprecedented depth; the work earned a Special Pulitzer Prize and established Spiegelman as a central figure in both literary and visual culture. Beyond Maus, he has contributed influential cartoons and covers to The New Yorker, including the iconic 9/11 cover, demonstrating his ability to communicate complex emotional and cultural truths with economy and symbolic resonance. His artistic sensibility reflects influences from early twentieth-century cartoonists, modernist design, typography, and the visual language of newspapers and advertising, while also incorporating pop culture, surrealism, and abstraction. Spiegelman has consistently experimented with the interplay of image and text, treating comics as a medium that mirrors cognitive processes of memory, perception, and emotional experience. In addition to his creative output, he has curated exhibitions, edited anthologies, and published critical essays on comics history and theory, advocating for the recognition of the medium as serious art and mentoring generations of cartoonists. He has also worked in graphic design, creating posters, album covers, and commemorative stamps, and his visual interventions often reflect his interest in narrative structure, cultural commentary, and the power of imagery to shape public understanding. Throughout his career, Spiegelman has been a vocal advocate for freedom of expression and a critic of censorship, engaging in public discourse on political and social issues, and demonstrating how comics can address profound ethical and historical questions. His pioneering work, editorial vision, and relentless innovation have transformed both the aesthetics and the intellectual reception of comics, proving that the medium can handle grief, history, and identity with sophistication, subtlety, and emotional resonance. Spiegelman’s legacy is evident in the work of contemporary graphic novelists and in the broader cultural recognition of comics as an art form capable of exploring human experience, social commentary, and the complexities of memory and trauma, making him one of the most influential figures in modern visual storytelling.

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artwork is phenomenal, stories not so much.

[Kim Pietrobono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awards: N/A

Grades: 3rd-4th grade

Summary: This book is a compilation of stories transformed into comics. The book contains comics from award-winning and bestselling authors and features colorful art. Stories including the tale of Sleeping Beauty are adapted and transformed into eccentric and entertaining strips.

Review: One of the best parts of this book is the team of talented writers and illustrators who took part in its creation. Names like Maurice Sendack, Lemony Snicket and Art Spiegelman are just a few of the big names. I think this book acts as a fun and cute introduction to comics for children.

In class use: This book could be used during a unit on different types of writing (specifically comic strips). It could also be used as an example for works of different authors/illustrators.

[Emma Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. No Awards
2. 3/4th grade
3. This book is about different stories made into comic books. The author uses adaptions on traditional literature, such as Sleeping Beauty. This book also has a great sense of humor.
4. This book is super cute! I liked the adaptions of the traditional stories and how the author uses humor in the story to keep the children engaged. I also loved the illustrations.
5. Comic Book
Traditional Fairy-Tales
-I would have the students create their own fairy tale using comic book strips

[Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was horrifying. I'm glad no one gave this to me when I was little, because I wouldn't have been able to be by myself for a long time afterwards. "Sick Comics for Parents Who Want Their Kids to be as Neurotic as They Are." Thanks a lot, Spiegelman!

[StrictlySequential · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second in a series of four and there are some repeats from the one I read and clearly, based on the titles, a bunch from the others. Thus I believe that you've read them all once you've read three and that the third one will only be half new.

[Cail Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizarre collection - pretty disjointed but cool to see all these OG indie comic legends trying fables and stories for kids. The Sendak and Walt Kelly were a nice treat.

[Zoe Surbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"T'was as funny as thy mule"

-Zoe Shakespeare

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very entertaining group of comics, with some genuinely great talent on display.

[Michael Res · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird. Good sometimes. Not so good others. I liked the maze story.

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun collection of graphic experiments that cover a broad variety of fun, engaging short stories. The book is full of extremely engaging works by extremely talented illustrators and storytellers. I picked this up because it contains some of the final work by Art Spiegelman, and also features work by some of my favorite artists and writers such as Maurice Sendak, David Sedaris, and Neil Gaiman. I wanted to share this with my four year old, whose attention span seemed appropriate for its witty and fun short, snappy two to three page pieces. The artwork is gorgeous and the stories are a great deal of fun, and I am not sure that this book is entirely for five and up - as an adult, I had a great time with it. It is really a fantastic book for all ages, assuming that there still exists that little bit of weird and silly that we all had at one time.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this ultra cute and smart intro to comics. This compendium of one shots consists of tales that take place on a Dark Silly Night or traditional fairy tales. I was super impressed with the Sleeping Beauty tale because it picks up where the version that most people are familiar with leaves off, after the princess is woken up with a kiss. I also loved lemony snickett's it was a dark and silly night. There were also a lot of fun puzzles like the one's I remember finding in Hilight's magazine, such as find the difference, spot the items, find the matching princesses and a fun take on where's waldo. There are lots of different art styles but they were all fairly colorful and very bright. Overall a fun read and I'm really glad I picked it up.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a veritable who's who of classic and contemporary cartoonists and illustrators, with stories that range from silly to offbeat to slightly sinister. I vastly prefer the large-sized original trilogy to this smaller culled collection. It's a shame they went out of print! It occurred to me that this came out pre-TOON books. I wonder if TOON got the rights back if they could format any of the individual stories to fit that of their current lineup. I bet a few of them would do well on their own! It's also too bad I had to delete this because no one checked it out in three years! I'm keeping the hardcover ones, though, and will try to remember to recommend them more often.

[Meepelous · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of some of the craziest children's stories I have ever read. I really should not have expected anything less considering that one of the editors is also the creator of the garbage pail kids!

Subversive, whimsical, open minded and dark – this collection of the Little Lit series is perfect for any alternative family library. Retellings of traditional fairy tails as well as new original stories, as an adult I still found it hard to put down.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of comic stories from some amazing illustrators, including Maurice Sendick (Where the wild things are) and Art Spielgelman (Maus, a graphic novel about the Nazis that EVERYONE should read) My favorites were the comics of my favorite fairy tales like The Princess and the Pea and my least favorite ones were about space or aliens.

[sweet pea · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a superb collection for littles. there's a wide variety of art with tales both original and (inspired by) traditional. the stories mostly have suitably questionable morals, thankfully. the comics are interspersed with fairly phantasmagoric search pages. the kind that littles delight in finding small details and adults not so much. give it to your favorite quirky kid today.

[Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute book to introduce kids to comics. Funny stuff by David Sedaris, Lemony Snicket, Art Spiegelman, Neil Gaiman, and others. A highlight is the very strange Charles Burns full page black and white drawing in which you're supposed to find all the eggs and snakes. If you know Burns's work, you can imagine what this looks like.

[Raina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shocking list of contributors to this book. David Sedaris, Neil Gaiman, Maurice Sendak...
All the entries are hilariously tongue in cheek and a little dark, but still safe for kids. Kooky, quirky fun.

[Bayneeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aimed at children the same way old-fashioned fairy tales are--a little dark and twisted. Impressive list of authors and illustrators: Art Spiegelman, David Sedaris, Neil Gaiman, Gahan
Wilson, Jules Feiffer, Crockett Johnson, Lemony Snickett, Maurice Sendak, and many more.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

So weird. Really like most of the book though, and it's definitely appropriate for all ages. It's nice to see folks like Dan Clowes and David Mazzucchelli doing children's stories. Highly recommend it.

[Emelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of the best of the best Little Lit comics!

[Austin Beaudoin · Rating 5 out of 5]

omigosh...

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very cute. Fairy tales redone. Maurice Sendak's "Cereal Baby Yeller" was my favorite.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this at Ollies for like $2. Not really for all ages though. Hugo can read this in 8-10.

[Rifesof0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great because it has a lot of comics in it and it has mazes. Also at the end as some jokes and a i spy.I love this book!!!!!

[Mary Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another hit? I also love the games,can you find stories, and other stories. The artwork is astounding. Read the book and find out why many of these of won national and international awards.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you get out of Lewis Trondheim's A-Maze-ing Adventure?! We dont' see the solution!

[Corinne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not a big fan of a lot of the artwork in this. I also found a lot of the stories to be sort of obscure and dark.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antología de historietas para chicos de todas las edades.

[Laura (booksnob) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great compilation of comics by the masters. Art Spiegelman is the editor and he has a few of his comics inside. Also Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket and David Sedaris. Need I say more?