Richard Scarry

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Richard Scarry
Born June 5, 1919(1919-06-05)
Boston, Massachusetts
Died April 30, 1994 (aged 74)
Gstaad, Switzerland
Occupation author and illustrator
Genres Children's books
Notable work(s) Best Word Book Ever

Richard McClure Scarry (June 5, 1919 – April 30, 1994) - last name pronounced /'skæ ri/, rhyming with "marry"[1] - was an enormously popular American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of 300 million worldwide.

Scarry was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where his parents ran a shop. The Scarry family enjoyed a comfortable life even during the time of the Great Depression. Following high school graduation, Scarry enrolled in a business college but soon dropped out, finding it not to his liking. He then studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he remained until being drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II.

Following the war, Scarry worked for the art departments of various magazines before making a career breakthrough in 1949 with Little Golden Books.

Contents

[edit] Busytown

Scarry's most famous series of books was about Busytown. Scarry's characters are almost always anthropomorphic animals. His books have been popular with children throughout the world. Over 100 million copies of his books have been sold, and they've been translated into 30 languages.[2]

While his books are largely populated by common animal species such as cats, rabbits, pigs, and mice, he proved to be quite adept to giving human characteristics to a seemingly endless number of creatures. Beavers, raccoons, hippopotami, rhinoceri, owls, bears, goats, elephants, foxes, gorillas, crocodiles, dogs, wolves, anteaters, hyenas, baboons, chickens, and insects were just some of the other animals to be featured in Scarry's works.

In the 1980s and 1990s, many of his "Best Ever" series of books were converted into very popular animated videos, which are still available on DVD and VHS. Some of these animated films include Richard Scarry's Best Silly Stories and Songs Videos Ever and The Busiest Firefighters Ever. The Busytown books were also adapted into an animated series, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, which ran on Showtime from 1993 to 1996 and later reran in the late 1990's on Nickelodeon and Noggin and now currently airs Saturday mornings on digital channel This TV. Busytown was also featured at the Carnegie Science Center from June 13 through September 8, 2002 in an interactive exhibit entitled "Richard Scarry's Busytown."[3]

Titles reprinted in recent years have been significantly condensed from their original versions.

[edit] Personal life and family

Scarry's wife, Patricia Murphy, was a writer of children's textbooks who met Richard during collaboration when he was a textbook illustrator. She is credited with writing many of the stories in his subsequent children's books, such as Good Night, Little Bear, The Bunny Book, and The Fishing Cat.

In 1972, Scarry bought a chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland. Here he founded his studio where he spent most of the day (from about 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) writing and illustrating his books. His studio contained a single desk, lamp and chair. His wife was told not to bother him except for his hour break for lunch.

Scarry died of a heart attack in Gstaad at age 74 in 1994[4].

His son, Richard Scarry Jr., is also an illustrator, sometimes working under his nickname, Huck Scarry, sometimes working in his father's style as "Richard Scarry". Huck is the nickname of Huckle Cat, one of the most commonly recurring Busytown characters.

Huck lives in Vienna, Austria; socialite Olympia Scarry is his daughter.

[edit] Bibliography

Beginner Books by Richard Scarry:

  • 1984 Richard Scarry's The Best Mistake Ever! and Other Stories (B-Extra 9)
  • 1994 Pie Rats (B-Extra 10)

Bright and Early Books by Richard Scarry:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Stories Made to Video

Golden Book Videos:

  • The Gingerbread Man and Other Nursery Stories (Golden Book 1985)
  • Old MacDonald's Farm and Other Animal Tales (Golden Book 1989)

Random House Videos:

  • Best ABC Video Ever! (Random House 1989)
  • Best Counting Video Ever! (Random House 1989)
  • Best Learning Songs Video Ever! (Random House 1993)
  • Best Busy People Video Ever! (Random House 1993)
  • Best Silly Stories and Songs Video Ever! (Random House 1994)
  • Best Sing-Along Mother Goose Video Ever! (Random House 1994)

The Busy World of Richard Scarry:

  • Summer Picnic and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
  • Sergeant Murphy's Day Off and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
  • The Best Birthday Present Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
  • The Busiest Firefighters Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
  • The Best Babysitter Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
  • Mr. Frumble's New Cars and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
  • A Trip To The Moon and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
  • The Snowstorm and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
  • The Best of the Busy World of Richard Scarry (Cinar and Minute Maid 1993)

Richard Scarry's:

  • Sally's First Day At School and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • New Friend On The Block and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • The Best Birthday Party Ever and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • Now I Know My 123's and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • The Best Spelling Bee Ever and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • Practice Makes Perfect and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • Making Progress and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • Be My Valentine and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • The First Easter Egg Ever and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • The First Halloween Ever and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • The Best Christmas Present Ever and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
  • The Best Christmas Surprise Ever and 2 other stories (Polygram Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)

[edit] References

  1. ^ What Do People Do All Day? - Richard Scarry - Review - So, What DO people Do All day?
  2. ^ Barnes & Noble.com - Books: Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever, by Richard Scarry, Hardcover, Giant Little Golden Book
  3. ^ Carnegie Magazine
  4. ^ New York Times obituary of Richard Scarry

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Scarry, Richard McClure
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION author and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston, Massachusetts, United States
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 1994
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Scarry"
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