The Doorman's Repose

From Caldecott Award winner Chris Raschka, tales of unforgettable characters who live in a NYC apartment building

“To the company of ur-New Yorkers like Stuart Little, Harriet the Spy, and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, let me hold open the door for The Doorman’s Repose. A new favorite." —Gregory Maguire

“….marvelously intriguing stories…” —Lemony Snicket

Some of us look up at those craggy, mysterious apartment buildings found in the posher parts of New York City and wonder what goes on inside. The Doorman’s Repose collects ten stories about 777 Garden Avenue, one of the craggiest. The first story recounts the travails of the new doorman, who excels at all his tasks except perhaps the most important one—talking baseball. Others tell of a long-forgotten room, a cupid-like elevator, and the unlikely romance of a cerebral psychologist and a jazz musician, both of whom are mice. Because the animals talk and the machinery has feelings, these are children’s stories. Otherwise they are for anyone intrigued by what happens when many people, strangers or kin, live together under one roof.

Chris Raschka has made more than sixty books for children, including Yo! Yes?, Five for a Little One, A Ball for  Daisy, and, with Vladimir Radunsky, Alphabetabum, which is published by The New York Review Children’s Collection. His work has earned one Caldecott Honor and two Caldecott Medals, as well as the Ezra Jack Keats Award, and his books have been selected five times for The New York Times Best Illustrated Books list. He lives in New York City.