Reimagined Mark Twain Fairy Tale Set To Come Out This Fall

While Mark Twain may have left this world over a hundred years ago, fans of the literary icon should be excited to hear that an abandoned fairy tale written by the famed writer is set to come out this fall. Doubleday Books for Young Readers will be releasing the 152-page illustrated story titled “Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine.”

As detailed by a New York Times article, notes for the abandoned fairy tale titled “Oleomargarine” was unearthed by scholar John Bird while searching the Twain archives at the University of California, Berkley. And, after bringing the text to attention of the Mark Twain House and Museum, it was sold to Doubleday. The reimagined version of the story was concocted by the children’s book author-illustrator team of Philip and Erin Stead. Philip wrote the text, while Erin took care of the illustrations.

“We said yes before our brains could tell us it was a terrible idea and we would never be able to do it,” Philip, the author, told the New York Times in a telephone interview, who added a twist to the original story by including Twain to it—who argues with the writer about the direction they took the original text to. “Oleomargarine” follows the trend of abandoned texts resurfacing decades after its famed authors’ deaths. As noted by the article, the Twain-inspired release follows the steps of previously unpublished works of Dr. Seuss, Beatrix Potter and Margaret Wise Brown.

As noted by the New York Times article, Bird discovered the manuscript for the reimagined Twain work in 2011, curiously while searching for references for a Twain-inspired cookbook. He was supposedly drawn by the word “oleomargarine,” which sounded like an ingredient to a recipe. “What I found is what seems to be the only remaining record of these bedtime stories that he told his kids,” Bird was quoted in the article.

Tagsmark twain, oleomargarine, philip stead, erin stead, john bird