The Nutshell Board Books

It feels a little like blasphemy to say so, since Maurice Sendak's tiny, boxed Nutshell Library is one of the world's perfect objects (and the item in the store most likely to make a customer sigh and say, "I had this when I was a kid!"), but I was tickled to see that the four Nutshell volumes—Alligators All Around, Pierre, One Was Johnny, and Chicken Soup with Rice—have been newly released as board books. Are they messing with perfection, or just spreading it? I think the latter, especially since these sturdy, larger board editions will hold up to a lot more loving abuse from young readers. Why not have both? (2 and up)