The busy, busy world of Richard Scarry

by Walter Retan

Tens of millions of children have grown up learning to count, to name things correctly, to behave well, to know what adults do all day, and to recognize cars and trucks and things that go because Richard Scarry taught them how. In dozens of books, with hundreds and hundreds of illustrations, and in witty, memorable words, Scarry revealed to kids that the everyday world was a place that could be understood - and that learning was fun. Although he died in 1994, Scarry has never been more popular, or better loved by those who read him. Such a man is worth knowing more about, and this first biography presents the debonair, humorous, charming figure that Scarry was. Illustrated with personal and family photographs and with the artist's own drawings and paintings, this book has been prepared by two old friends and colleagues - Ole Risom, who was the art director for all of Scarry's major books, and Walter Retan, his editor for many years at Random House and Golden Press. In words and picture