Magic Maize

Boston, Massachusettes: Houghton Mifflin, 1953. First Edition (presumed; no prior editions or printings cited). Quarto in pictorial boards; 76 pp: color illustrations; 28 cm. Sewn library binding. Ex-library with standartd internal markings; else overall very good to vg(-) thus; light toning and sunning to boards; mild wear. Binding tight, leaves clean. Hardcover.

The story of Fabian, a Mayan Indian boy, who uncovers a rare jade earplug while secretly planting "magic maize." The earplug and maize lead to adventures so unusual that even Fabian's stubborn father is convinced that the old and new can live in peace. Mary and Conrad Buff were a distinguished husband-and-wife team whose collaborations produced some of the most graceful and enduring children’s books of mid-twentieth-century America. Mary Marsh Buff (1890–1970), trained as both artist and storyteller, wrote lyrical texts steeped in myth, nature, and the American Southwest; Conrad Buff II (1886–1975), a Swiss-born painter renowned for his luminous Western landscapes, supplied the clean, geometric illustrations that gave their works a timeless clarity. Together they created classics such as The Big Tree (1946), Dash and Dart (1951), and Forest Folk (1938), often weaving ecological reverence with quiet moral vision. Their books—distinguished by rhythmic prose and a modernist visual simplicity—earned numerous honors, including Caldecott and Newbery recognitions, and remain exemplars of the seamless union of art and narrative in American picture-book history. | Maya, Mexico, Central Americ, Corn, Food crops, Farming, Agricultural. Illustrated Children's Books