My Favorite Things

From Maira Kalman, the author of the bestsellers The Principles of Uncertainty and The Elements of Style, comes this beautiful pictorial and narrative exploration of the significance of objects in our lives, drawn from her personal artifacts, recollections, and selections from the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

With more than fifty original paintings and featuring bestselling author and illustrator Maira Kalman's signature handwritten prose, My Favorite Things is a poignant and witty meditation on the importance of both quotidian and unusual objects in our culture and private worlds.

Created in the same colorful, engaging, and insightful style as her previous works, which have won her fans around the world, My Favorite Things features more than fifty objects from both the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and Kalman's personal collections: the pocket watch Abraham Lincoln was carrying when he was shot, original editions of Winnie-the-Pooh and Alice in Wonderland, a handkerchief in memoriam of Queen Victoria, an Ingo Maurer lamp, Rietveld's Z chair, a pair of Toscanini's pants, and photographs Kalman has taken of people walking towards and away from her. A pictorial index provides photographs of the actual objects and a short description of them, enhancing the reading experience.

As it speaks to the universal experience and importance of beloved objects in our lives--big and small, famous and private--this unique work is a fresh way of examining and understanding our society, history, culture, and ourselves.

Maira Kalman is the illustrator of The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr, the author of My Favorite Things, Principles of Uncertainty, and the bestselling And the Pursuit of Happiness, and the author/illustrator of numerous children's books. Her artwork has graced multiple covers of The New Yorker, and her watches, clocks, accessories, and paperweights have been featured at the Museum of Modern Art store. She lives in New York City.

Alex Kalman is a designer, curator, writer, and creative director. He is the founder, director, and a chief curator of Mmuseumm, a new type of museum described as curatorial genius by The Atlantic and one of the top twelve hidden art gems in the world by the New York Times T Magazine. He also published the very first ever Op-Object column in the New York Times. His artwork, films, installations, and exhibitions have been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His latest project, Future Aleppo, was on exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and will open at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2018. He lives in New York City.