The Wonderful O is the last of James Thurber’s five short-book fairy tales for children. Published in 1957 by Hamish Hamilton / Simon Schuster, it followed Many Moons (1943), The Great Quillow (1944), The White Deer (1945) and The 13 Clocks (1950). “I’ll build you a better man of firmer flesh and all complete, from hairy head to metatarsal feet, using A’s and I’s and U’s and E’s with muscular arms and flexible knees; eyes and ears and lids and lips, neck and chest and breast and hips; … ”