(1919-1994)

Richard Scarry is one of the world’s best-loved children’s authors. Generations of children have grown up poring over his books, filled with the colorful details of daily life. Scarry showed a lively interest in the words and concepts of early childhood. When asked his age, he would often laugh and say, “five!”

Born in 1919 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Scarry served for five years drawing maps and designing graphics for the US Army. He then moved to New York to pursue a career in commercial art. After showing his portfolio to an editor at Golden Books, he found a perfect home 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, and illustrated the classic I Am a Bunny.

Throughout his career, Richard Scarry illustrated over 150 books, many of which have never gone out of print. His books have sold over 100 million copies worldwide and are published in more than twenty languages.

Richard Scarry passed away in Gstaad, Switzerland, in 1994. He was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators in 2012. His son, Richard Scarry Jr. (also an illustrator, known as Huck Scarry), continues his father’s legacy.