To Do

To Do is an alphabet book, meant originally for children, in which Stein planned an orderly progression through the alphabet with four names for each letter. But things quickly developed, and by the times she reached H, Henriette de Dactyl, all manner of weird and wonderful ideas had crept in. When Stein completed this charming book, friends and editors thought it inappropriate for children because of its lack of episode. Stein refused to alter it, however, and it remained unpublished until 1957.