WHAT ABOUT RICHARD SCARRY?

I honestly can't think of an author/illustrator who has created a bigger (or more fun) world of animal characters for children than Richard Scarry.  His stories are easy to follow because of all the detailed pictures and matter-of-fact text, even though the action taking place can be quite complex.  I remember the pages, full of funny scenarios: like a city street with a gorilla driving a banana truck, swerving out of the way of an exploding fire hydrant that had just been hit by Lowly Worm in his little car, with Mr. Fixit Fox showing up to tow him away while Sargent Murphy (a dog) directed traffic.  And that's only maybe half of what was going on in a two page spread!

Because of the fun animal characters that show up over and over again in the stories, as well as all that's happening on each page, kids want to look at and have these books read to them over and over again, in case they miss something the first (or second, or third) time!

Scarry, born in Boston ("BUSYTOWN") in 1919, wrote or illustrated over 300 books, translated into 30 languages - selling over 300 million copies worldwide!  He once said, “I’m not interested in creating a book that is read once and then placed on the shelf and forgotten. I am very happy when people write that they have worn out my books, or that they are held together by Scotch tape. I consider that the ultimate compliment.”  Well, I have to say, my childhood copy of the big book, BUSY BUSY WORLD is all taped up along the binding!  I remember fondly the double-decker bus on the cover, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.  I've always been interested in other countries, and it may be because of that book, and its fun illustrations depicting countries and life all over the world!

Too see more books by Richard Scarry (there are too many to list here!), go to Amazon's Richard Scarry Page.