The Twenty-One Balloons (Puffin Modern Classics)[21个气球]

WilliamPèneduBois,infullWilliamPèneShermanduBois(bornMay9,1916,Nutley,N.J.,U.S.—diedFeb.5,1993,Nice,France),Americanauthorandillustratorofchildren’sbooksnotedforhiscomiccoterieofpeculiarcharacters.In1948hewasawardedtheNewberyMedalforTheTwenty-OneBalloons(1947).Bornintoafamilyofartists,duBoisstudiedartinFranceandpublishedbooksforchildrenfromthemid-1930s.HeservedinWorldWarIIasacorrespondentforYankandothermagazinesandbecamethefirstartdirectorofTheParisReviewin1953.Hismostacclaimedbook,TheTwenty-OneBalloons,isaboutaretiredmathteacherwhorefusestotellanyonebuttheWesternAmericanExplorer’sClubabouthisfantasticjourneybyhot-airballoontothevolcanoofKrakatoa.Inhisuncompletedseriesaboutthesevendeadlysins,duBoisprofiledslothinLazyTommyPumpkinhead(1966),prideinPrettyPrettyPeggyMoffitt(1968),gluttonyinPorkovonPopbutton(1969),andavariceinCallMeBandicoot(1970).AhugeotterhoundnamedOttoistheheroofanotherseriesofbooks.TheAlligatorCase(1965)andTheHorseintheCamelSuit(1967)parodythedetectivenovelsofRaymondChandler.SeveralofduBois’sbooksfeaturebears,suchasBearParty(1951),BearCircus(1971),andthesemiautobiographicalGentlemanBear(1983).HisotherworksincludeTheFlyingLocomotive(1941),PeterGraves(1950),Lion(1956),andTheForbiddenForest(1978).HealsoillustratededitionsofbooksbysuchnotableauthorsasEdwardLear,JulesVerne,SirArthurConanDoyle,IsaacBashevisSinger,RoaldDahl,andMarkStrand.