Richard McClure Scarry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Scarry

Richard McClure Scarry (/ˈskɑːriː/; June 5, 1919 – April 30, 1994) was an American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million worldwide.[1] He is best known for his Best Ever book series that take place primarily in the fictional town of Busytown, "which is populated by friendly and helpful resident [animals...such as] Mr. Frumble, Huckle Cat, Mr. Fixit, Lowly Worm, and others..."[2] The series spawned a media franchise.

Early life and education
Scarry was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Mary McClure and John Scarry Sr., who were of Irish-American ancestry and ran a small department store chain.[3][4] Scarry had four siblings: older brother John Jr., younger sister Barbara, and younger brothers Edward and Leo.[5] The family enjoyed a comfortable life at their 32 Melville Avenue home in the Dorchester neighborhood,[5] even during the Great Depression.

Following high school, Scarry enrolled in Boston Business School, but dropped out in 1938.[6][7] He then studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Archipenko Art School in Woodstock, New York, and the Eliot O'Hara Watercolor School in Goose Rocks, Kennebunkport, Maine,[8] before being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942.

Career
After entering the Army, Scarry was assigned to the military's radio repair school. After a small success in that trade, he was chosen to paint a large sign and then made an art director after receiving a medical dispensation "from strenuous physical activity". Later he became "Editor and Writer of Publications for the Information and Morale Services Section of the Allied Force Headquarters", served in North Africa, and was discharged from the Army in 1946.[7][9] After the war, Scarry worked in magazine and advertising in New York City, including a very brief stint at Vogue. In 1949, he made a career breakthrough with Little Golden Books.[7]

Scarry's most famous series of books was about Busytown and revolved around anthropomorphic animals. While his books are largely populated by common animal species, he proved to be quite adept at giving human characteristics to a seemingly endless number of creatures, machines, and creations. Many of his later illustrations feature characters in traditional Swiss clothing and show architecturally correct drawings of half-timber houses.

The fabric of Scarry's world was woven with a strong sense of community and cooperation. His characters work together, be it building a house or constructing a highway. And he endowed his characters with an honest humanity that underscores his tales. Scarry knew children needed to know that they did not have to be perfect all the time.[10]

Scarry was a disciplined worker.[7] Scarry was closely associated with mass-market children's publisher Ole Risom. They worked together on dozens of books, including I Am a Bunny, which Risom wrote and Scarry illustrated. First published in 1963, it is still in print.[11] Risom and Walter Retan also co-wrote the illustrated biography, The Busy, Busy World of Richard Scarry.[12] In the 1980s and 1990s, many of Scarry's Best Ever books were produced as animated videos and aired during TLC's now-defunct Ready Set Learn block. The Busytown books were also adapted into an animated series, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, which was produced by Canada-based CINAR (now WildBrain) and Paramount Television and aired on the pay-TV channel Showtime from 1993 to 1997. It reran in the late 1990s on Nickelodeon and its sister channel Noggin (now the Nick Jr. Channel). A further animated series, Busytown Mysteries, was commissioned by CBC from the Cookie Jar Group (the successor to CINAR) in 2007, and airs on the Kids' CBC morning program block.

Busytown was featured at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh from June 13 to September 8, 2002, in an interactive exhibit, Richard Scarry's Busytown.[13] His books were popular with children throughout the world with over 100 million copies sold.[1]

From 1976 to around 1978, Playskool planned Richard Scarry's Puzzletown, a series of toy sets featuring plastic figures of Scarry characters and vehicles as well as cardboard scenery that the child could set up in a grid of trenches in a plastic base.[14][15]

Changes to Best Word Book Ever

A snapshot of Scarry's illustration style from the book Busy, Busy Town.
Books by Richard Scarry were revised over the course of their several editions, often to make them conform to changing social values. His Best Word Book Ever, which first introduced in 1963, was issued in 1980 as a "new revised edition" which altered images and text to remove material which could be perceived as offensive due to gender, ethnic, or religious misconceptions. Characters in "cowboy" or "Indian" costumes were either removed or given nondescript clothing. Moral and religious elements and depictions of gender roles were altered or removed (for instance, a menorah was added into a Christmas scene, and the words "he comes promptly when he is called to breakfast", referring to a father bear, were changed to "he goes to the kitchen to eat his breakfast"). Characters engaged in activities reflecting traditional gender roles were altered so as to make the scenes more gender-neutral (e.g., a male character was added into a kitchen scene, a cowboy was replaced with a female gardener and a female scientist, the phrase "pretty stewardess" was changed to "flight attendant", and male characters engaged in traditionally masculine activities such as driving a steamroller were altered into female characters by the addition of hair bows or pink flowers, etc.). In some cases these changes necessitated removing whole sections altogether, including the "Out West" section, the "buildings" section (which had depicted a church, a cathedral, and a French Foreign Legion fortress), and sections on painting and music making.[16][17]

Scarry's papers and drawings are collected in the University of Connecticut archives.[18]

Personal life and family
While working as a free-lance illustrator, Scarry met Patricia "Patsy" Murphy, a writer of children's textbooks, when they collaborated on one such book, and they married in 1948.[7] 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. Before moving to Europe, the family lived on a farm in Ridgefield, Connecticut.[19]

In 1972, Scarry and his wife moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, and in 1974 bought a chalet in nearby Gstaad, where Scarry enjoyed spending time with his adult son, Richard Scarry Jr., skiing, coin collecting, and sailing.[20][10][21]

Scarry's son is also an illustrator who sometimes works under the name Huck Scarry in his father's style. He moved to Vienna, Austria, and has four children.[3][20][22]

Death
On April 30, 1994, in Gstaad, Switzerland, Scarry died of a heart attack, caused by complications from esophageal cancer, at the age of 74.[1][7]

Bibliography
Scarry began his book career in 1949 as an illustrator of books by other people, specifically Kathryn & Byron Jackson's Mouse's House. He continued as only or primarily an illustrator through 1955, then began turning out original books.

His titles, in order of publication, are:[2]

Golden Books
Mouse's House, 1949
Duck and His Friends, 1949
Two Little Miners, 1949
My Little Golden Dictionary, 1949
Christopher Bunny and Other Animal Stories, 1949
First Book Ever, 1950
Animals' Merry Christmas, 1950
Here Comes the Parade, 1951
The Gingerbread Man, 1953
Rabbit and His Friends, 1954
The Party Pig, 1954
Pierre Bear, 1954
The Bunny Book, 1955
Nursery Tales, 1958
Cars and Trucks, 1959
Firemen and Fire Engine Stamps, 1959
Naughty Bunny, 1959
Tinker and Tanker (ISBN 0-385-06010-6), 1960
Just For Fun (ISBN 0-307-02116-5), 1960
Chicken Little, 1960
Tinker and Tanker Out West, 1961
Tinker and Tanker and Their Space Ship, 1961
Tinker and Tanker and the Pirates, 1961
Good Night, Little Bear, 1961
The Country Mouse and The City Mouse, 1961
The Hickory Dickory Clock Book, 1961
Tommy Visits the Doctor, 1962
My Little Golden Book of Manners, 1962
Manners, 1962
What Animals Do, 1963
A Tinker and Tanker Coloring Book, 1963
I Am a Bunny (ISBN 0-307-12125-9), 1963
Chipmunk's ABC, 1963
The Rooster Struts, 1963
Best Word Book Ever (ISBN 0-307-15510-2), first published 1963, reprinted 1970, "new revised edition" 1980
Tinker and Tanker, Knights of the Round Table, 1963
Tinker and Tanker in Africa, 1963
Polite Elephant, 1964
Is This the House of Mistress Mouse? (ISBN 0-307-12029-5), 1964
Feed the Hippo His ABC's, 1964
Animal Mother Goose, 1964
Best Nursery Rhymes Ever, 1964 (reprinted as Best Mother Goose Ever)
Busy, Busy World, 1965
Teeny Tiny Tales, 1965
The Santa Claus Book, 1965
The Bunny Book, 1965
Storybook Dictionary: A Giant Golden Book, 1966 (reprinted as Best Picture Dictionary Ever)
Planes, 1967
Trains, 1967
Boats (ISBN 0-307-11537-2), 1967
Cars, 1967
Egg in the Hole Book, 1967
Best Story Book Ever (ISBN 0-307-16548-5), 1967
What Do People Do All Day? (ISBN 0-394-81823-7), 1968
The Early Bird/Lowly Worm Meets the Early Bird (ISBN 0-394-81138-0), 1968 (Early Moments)
What Animals Do, 1968
The Great Pie Robbery, 1969
The Supermarket Mystery, 1969
(The above two were combined in the omnibus Great Big Mystery Book (ISBN 0-00-138143-1), also 1969.)
Great Big Schoolhouse (ISBN 0-00-138150-4), 1969
Great Big Air Book (ISBN 0-394-92167-4), 1971
Best Stories Ever, 1971
ABC Word Book (ISBN 978-0-394-82339-3 ISBN 978-1-4027-7221-4), 1971
Look and Learn Library (4 Vols.) (Library of Congress 75-151-440), 1971

• Fun with Words
• Things to Know
• Going Places
• Best Stories Ever

Hop Aboard! Here We Go! (ISBN 0-307-13756-2, ISBN 978-0-307-13756-2), 1972
Funniest Storybook Ever (ISBN 0-00-138145-8), 1972
Nicky Goes to the Doctor, 1972
Silly Stories, 1973
Babykins and His Family, 1973
Random House
Find Your ABC's, 1973
Please and Thank You Book (ISBN 0-394-82681-7), 1973
Cars and Trucks and Things That Go (ISBN 0-307-15785-7), 1974
Best Rainy Day Book Ever, 1974
European Word Book, 1974
Golden Books
Animal Nursery Tales (ISBN 978-0-307-66810-3), 1975
Great Steamboat Mystery, 1975
Best Counting Book Ever, 1975
Random House
Busiest People Ever (ISBN 0-00-711151-7), 1976
Favorite Storybook, 1976
Busy Town, Busy People, 1976
Storytime, 1976
Look-Look Books, 1976 (10 Vols.)
Early Words, 1976
Color Book, 1976
Laugh and Learn Library, 1976 (4 Vols.)
Picture Dictionary, 1976
Teeny Tiny ABC, 1976
Learn to Count, 1976
Lowly Worm Story Book, 1977
Busy, Busy Word Book, 1977
Best Make-It Book Ever, 1977
Busy-Busy Counting Book, 1977
Postman Pig and His Busy Neighbors, 1978
Toy Book, 1978
Bedtime Stories, 1978
Stories to Color, 1978
Little Word Book, 1978
Punch-Out Toy Book, 1978
Things to Learn, 1978
Little ABC, 1978
Best First Book Ever, 1979
Tinker and Tanker and Tales of Pirates and Knights, 1979
To Market, To Market, 1979
Holiday Book, 1979
Work and Play Book, 1979
Mix and Match Storybook, 1979
Huckle's Book, 1979
Busytown Pop-Up Book, 1979
Can You Count?, 1979
Lowly Worm Things on Wheels, 1979
Peasant Pig and the Terrible Dragon (ISBN 0-394-84567-6), 1980
Christmas Mice, 1981
Best Christmas Book Ever (ISBN 0-394-94936-6, ISBN 978-0-394-94936-9), 1981
Busy Houses, 1981
Four Busy Word Books, 1982
Busytown Shape Book, 1982
Sticker Books, 1982 (3 Vols.)
Lowly Worm Cars and Trucks Book, 1983
Lowly Worm Bath Book, 1984
The Best Mistake Ever! and Other Stories, 1984 (Early Moments)
Best Bumper Book Ever, 1984
Pig Will and Pig Won't: A Book of Manners (ISBN 0-679-86653-1), 1984
Busy Fun and Learn Book, 1984
Biggest Word Book Ever! (ISBN 0-394-87374-2), 1985
My First Word Book, 1986
Big and Little, 1986
Best Workbooks Ever! (FUN With Letters), 1986 (4 Vols.)
Best Workbooks Ever! (FUN With Numbers), 1986 (3 Vols.)
My First Word Book, 1986
Best Music Book Ever, 1987
Things That Go, 1987
Things to Love, 1987
Busy Workers, 1987
Lowly Worm's Schoolbag, 1987 (4 Vols.)
Getting Ready for School, 1987 (4 Vols.)
Going Places on the Water, 1987 (4 Vols.)
Learning How Sticker Book, 1988
Giant Coloring Book, 1988
Busy Busy Sticker Book, 1988
Best Times Ever, 1988
Activity Book, 1988
Best Bedtime Book Ever, 1988
Best Read and Learn Book Ever, 1988
Biggest First Book Ever, 1988
Busy, Busy World (ISBN 0-307-65539-3), 1988
Dr. Doctor, 1988
Farmer Patrick Pig, 1988
Frances Fix-It, 1988
Harry and Larry the Fishermen, 1988
Play Day, 1988
Smokey the Fireman, 1988
Golden Books
Sniff the Detective, 1988
Splish Splash Sounds, 1988
All About Cars, 1989
Best Friend Ever, 1989
Best Ride Ever, 1989
Best Two-Minute Stories Ever!, 1989
Mother Goose Scratch and Sniff Book, 1989
Best Ever, 1989
Tinker and Tanker Storybook, 1989
Welcome to Scarrytown, 1989
Random House
Best Puzzle Word Book Ever, 1989
Just Right Word Book, 1990
Counting Book, 1990
Be Careful, Mr Frumble, 1990
Best Read It Yourself Book Ever, 1990
Best Story Book Ever, 1991
ABC's, 1991
Watch Your Step, Mr. Rabbit!, 1991
Best Year Ever, 1991
The Cat Family Takes a Trip, 1991
The Cat Family's Busy Day, 1991
Mr. Frumble's Worst Day Ever, 1991
Sergeant Murphy's Busiest Day Ever!, 1992
Best Fairytales Ever, 1992
Best Little Word Book Ever, 1992
Biggest Pop-Up Book Ever!, 1992
Bananas Gorilla, 1992
Huckle Cat's Busiest Day Ever, 1992
Mr. Fix-It: Richard Scarry's Smallest Pop-Up Book Ever!, 1992
Mr. Frumble: Richard Scarry's Smallest Pop-Up Book Ever!, 1992
Biggest Make-It Book Ever, 1993
Colors, 1993
Word Book With Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm, 1993
First Words, 1993
Story Book, 1993
Pie Rats Ahoy!, 1994 (Early Moments)
Busy, Busy Town (ISBN 0-307-16803-4), 1994 (Posthumous)
Longest Book Ever! (ISBN 0-689-80134-3), 1995 (Posthumous)
The Worst Helper Ever!, 1998 (Posthumous) (Early Moments)
Chuckle with Huckle! and Other Easy-to-Read Funny Stories, 2005 (Posthumous) (Early Moments)
Many of these titles are preceded by his name ("Richard Scarry's ..."), and may be so listed in library and booksellers' databases. Some (Pie Rats Ahoy!, Best Mistake Ever! and The Early Bird) were published under the Beginner Books (Grolier and Early Moments only) imprint, and others (Chuckle with Huckle! and Other Easy-to-Read Funny Stories and The Worst Helper Ever [Early Moments only]) as Bright and Early Books, although all are targeted at beginning readers. Scarry also illustrated a 1963 edition of The Fables of La Fontaine, and in 1993 put his own stamp on a series of familiar nursery stories (Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Red Hen, The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs).

Stories made to video
Golden Book Videos:

The Gingerbread Man and Other Nursery Stories (Golden Book 1986)[23]
Old MacDonald's Farm and Other Animal Tales (Golden Book 1986)[24]
Get Ready for School (Golden Step Ahead 1986, 1991)[25]
Random House Videos: (by 2006 these were taken out of print)

Richard Scarry's:

Best ABC Video Ever! (Random House 1989)[26]
Best Counting Video Ever! (Random House 1989)[27]
Best Busy People Video Ever! (Random House 1993)[28]
Best Learning Songs Video Ever! (Random House 1993)[29]
Best Silly Stories and Songs Video Ever! (Random House 1994)[30]
Best Sing-Along Mother Goose Video Ever! (Random House 1994)[31]
PolyGram Videos:

The Busy World of Richard Scarry:

The Three Fishermen and other stories (Cinar 1993)
The Best Birthday Present Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
Sergeant Murphy's Day Off and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
The Busiest Firefighters Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
Mr. Frumble's New Cars and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
The Snowstorm and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
A Trip To The Moon and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
Summer Picnic and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
The Best Babysitter Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993)
Sally's First Day At School and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
New Friend On The Block and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
Richard Scarry's:

The Best Christmas Present Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
The Best Birthday Party Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
Now I Know My 123's and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
The Best Spelling Bee Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
The Best Christmas Surprise Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
Be My Valentine and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
The First Easter Egg Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
Practice Makes Perfect and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
Making Progress and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
The First Halloween Ever and 2 other stories (Cinar 1993, 1994, 1995)
References

Pace, Eric (3 May 1994). "Richard Scarry, 74, Children's Book Author and Illustrator, Dies". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2022.

Liukkonen, Petri. "Richard Scarry". Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi). Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008.

Stevenson, Alice (December 9, 2019). "Meet Busytown's Favorite Son, Huck Scarry". New York Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2021-11-17. Retrieved 2021-11-16.

Mapes, Melissa (July 1, 2012). Richard Scarry’s Best Luck Ever. Literary Traveller.

1940 U.S. Census, familysearch.com

American National Biography. Vol. 19. Oxford University Press. 1999. p. 350.

Branwen, Gwern. "Richard Scarry". Archived from the original on 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2021-11-16.

Dinneen, Marcia B. (2000). "Scarry, Richard McClure (05 June 1919–30 April 1994)". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1603321. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 2021-11-16.

"A Guide to the Richard Scarry Papers". Retrieved 2021-11-16.

Owens, Darryl E. (September 23, 1995). "Scarry's talent: Finding magic in the mundane"". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2022-04-17. Retrieved 2021-11-16.

Lipson, E. R. (August 24, 2000). "Ole C. Risom, 80, Publisher of Children's Books". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 19, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2017.

Retan, Walter; Ole Risom (1997). The Busy, Busy World of Richard Scarry. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 9780810940000.

"Carnegie Science Center". Carnegie Magazine. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12 – via carnegiemuseums.org.

"Second Generation of Fun". wandering-scientist.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-23. Retrieved 2013-02-23.

"Richard Scarry's Puzzletown". CrescentStar.blogspot.com. 14 April 2011. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2013.

Wade, Lisa (22 September 2010). "Social Change and Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever". The Society Pages. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2017.

Taylor, Alan (23 November 2005). "The Best Word Book Ever, 1963 and 1991". Flickr. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.

"A Guide to the Richard Scarry Papers". collections.ctdigitalarchive.org. Retrieved 2016-10-18.

Sanders, Jack (2015). Hidden History of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Arcadia Publishing. p. 73.

Simon, Scott (August 23, 2014). "Lowly Worm Is Back! Richard Scarry Jr. Brings Dad's Manuscript To Life". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2021-10-16.

Munier, Alexis (September 10, 2015). "His Father's Son -- Huck Scarry on his Family's Past, Present & Future". GstaadLife. Archived from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.

Blasberg, Derek (August 14, 2009). "Olympia Scarry". Interview Magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-09-29. Retrieved 2021-11-16.

"3 Richard Scarry Animal Nursery Tales (Video 1986)". IMDb. 1986. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2018-06-30.

"Richard Scarry's Old MacDonald's Farm and Other Animal Tales (Video 1986)". IMDb. 1986. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2018-06-30.

"Get Ready for School (Video 1986)". IMDb. 1986. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2018-06-30.

"Best ABC Video Ever! (Video 1989)". IMDb. 15 March 1989. Archived from the original on 10 February 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.

"Best Counting Video Ever! (Video 1989)". IMDb. 31 August 1989. Archived from the original on 10 February 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.

"Best Busy People Video Ever! (Video 1993)". IMDb. 17 August 1993. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.

"Best Learning Songs Video Ever! (Video 1993)". IMDb. 17 August 1993. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.

"Best Silly Stories and Songs Video Ever! (Video 1994)". IMDb. 23 August 1994. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.

"Best Sing-Along Mother Goose Video Ever! (Video 1994)". IMDb. 23 August 1994. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.

External links
Richard Scarry at IMDb
A Guide to the Richard Scarry Papers at the University of Connecticut Archives & Special Collections
Petri Liukkonen. "Richard Scarry". Books and Writers