Joel Ruben

In the spring of 1973, as a folk singer and musical story teller, I began a Kid's Concert Series at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica with David Avadon, a world class magician and performer. Every month we gathered young audiences for folk music and magic at one of America's great folk music venues, and every month David and I tried to give them something they would never forget.

In October 1973, for our Halloween show, I told the story of Humpty Dumpty for the first time. Not the nursery rhyme you already know, but the untold story. Where did he come from? What was his life like before and after his famous fall from the wall? The children in the Back Room at McCabe’s were my first audience, and their response told me the story was something worth keeping.

This book includes my seven original illustrations with more than twenty additional illustrations by the talented artists of Brainstorm Productions in Torrance, California — neurodiverse young adults whose creative vision has brought Humpty Dumpty to life in ways I never could have imagined in 1973. Working with them has been one of the genuine pleasures of this project.

The Children's Concert Series at McCabe's outlasted David and I as co-hosts — it continued monthly until February 2020, nearly forty-seven years, making it the longest running children's folk music concert series in the United States.

I left Los Angeles and McCabe's in the fall of 1974 to attend law school at UC Davis, but I have continued to perform the story of the Most Famous Egg in schools, hospitals and other venues for over 50 years. To every child who has heard this story over the past fifty three years — thank you for listening. And to those hearing it for the first time — welcome. You are in good company.

Joel Ruben