Richard Scarry's Busy Busy Airport

Richard Scarry (1919-1994)

Richard Scarry is one of the world’s most beloved children’s authors. Generations of children have grown up poring over his books, filled with colorful details of everyday life. Scarry showed a unique interest in the words and concepts of early childhood. When asked his age, he would often playfully respond with “five!”

Born in 1919 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Scarry worked for the US Army drawing maps and designing graphics for five years. He then moved to New York to pursue a career in commercial art. His talent was recognized by an editor at Golden Books, where he found a perfect fit for his work.

Scarry’s early assignments for Golden Books featured popular characters like Winky Dink, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Smokey the Bear. He later created his own original characters, including Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat. His first original character was Nicholas, a young rabbit in red overalls, featured in the classic I Am a Bunny.

Throughout his remarkable career, Richard Scarry illustrated over 150 books, many of which remain in print. His books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and are translated into over twenty languages.

Richard Scarry Jr., also an illustrator, continues his father’s legacy under the name Huck Scarry. Richard Scarry passed away in Gstaad, Switzerland, in 1994. In 2012, he was posthumously honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators.

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