Can you believe this is the last day of April? Me neither. We had a drought–now we have flooding! A lot of rain over the weekend and Sunday night. Hoo-boy!
Well, today we remember Richard McClure Scarry (1919-1994) who died on this day thirty years ago. His books are just the best–he actually has a series of Best Ever books–I mean, don’t we all wish we could live in Busytown?
Scarry published his first book in 1949. Over his lifetime he published 300 more and had total sales of over 100 million worldwide. Three generations of my family have really loved these books. (I still do!)
The young bud plays with lots of toys when he visits our house, but he almost always ends up in Busytown.
Who do you relate to best?
Personally I always picture myself as Dingo Dog when I drive around town in my Mini Coop…
So a toast to Richard Scarry and all the inhabitants of Busytown! And brush your teeth!
On Monday Lottie’s parents took her to the orthopedist to have her cast put on, so they dropped the wee laddie off at my house. We had so much fun together. We read Richard Scarry books, taking turns reading.
We went upstairs (usually off-limits) to search for more Richard Scarry books in his Dad’s old room. Then he asked if he could go in my room because that’s where the mini trampoline is as well as my practically-an-antique stationery bike.
He showed me how he could do jumping jacks on the trampoline (40!) and he did 20 push-ups on the floor, demonstrating what they learned in gym at school. I said I did not think I could do jumping jacks on the trampoline and he said, “That’s because you’re an old girl and my grandma.”
He jumped several times from the trampoline to the bed, landing on his knees, and I prayed, “Oh Lord, please don’t let him fall and break his arm!”
Then we watched YouTube videos of Matchbox cars and action figures. Fascinating!
After viewing these educational and thrilling videos, we ate lunch. I suggested a toasted cheese sandwich, but he said he preferred Easy Mac. Luckily I had some, which we made together. I had a tuna sandwich. He asked me if I like tuna, which is a fish. I said, yes, I do. We said grace and chatted about Vacation Bible School, which he admitted to enjoying, especially when the boys beat the girls at games.
After lunch he asked to get the old Legos out and we got two bins which are kept in the Florida room, discovering that the room had flooded during the torrential rains of the day before. Pappy was in the yard with the man who was turning on the sprinklers. He grumbled and went back to the basement where he had been hiding all morning.
We were playing with the Legos, looking for heads to put on all the headless men, when his parents arrived, all in a rush to go say goodbye to her sister who was leaving to go back to Texas. I heard the laddie say to his Dad as they crossed the lawn that he didn’t want to leave, “that he could stay here forever.”
I didn’t get any of the things done which I had planned to do that day, but who cares. I think I won an Oscar for Best Mamu.
Since I will no doubt be stuck at home this weekend due to inclement weather–and today is a snow day–I think I will round up all the Richard Scarry books I have and see if the boy wants to take his copies home to the nursery.
The little, tiny babies won’t be home for awhile…
…but they’ll be needing books soon, right? Yeah, they will.
Meanwhile, I am going to try to enjoy staying inside and catching up on all the things that need catching up.
You know, re-organizing my office.
Putting away the Christmas stained glass which I forgot to do last weekend. Checking to see what other Christmas decorations I missed.
And tonight I’ll toast James Joyce who died on this day in 1941. It was he who said: “I confess that I do not see what good it does to fulminate against the English tyranny while the Roman tyranny occupies the palace of the soul.” [“Ireland, Island of Saints and Sages,” lecture, Università Popolare, Trieste (27 April 1907), printed in James Joyce: Occasional, Critical and Political Writing (2002)]
I am a bit confused about what day it is. After a week away from the office, the amount of emails and phone messages and out-of-context requests is daunting. You know how it is.
Anyway, I was pleased to find out that today is the birthday of Richard McClure Scarry (June 5, 1919 – April 30, 1994), illustrator extraordinaire and children’s book author.
I loved his books when I was growing up and collected them long after I was considered to be of an appropriate age to read them.
I am not alone in this. Scarry is arguably the most popular children’s book author of all time. In a career that spanned four decades, he wrote and illustrated more than three hundred books and it is estimated that he has sold more than 200 million copies in over twenty languages. Scarry is most famous for writing a series of books about Busytown, a fictional town populated with a variety of anthropomorphic animals. Some of the main characters include Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, Bananas Gorilla, Hilda Hippo, and Farmer Fox.
The great thing about his books is that they can be read over and over and studied and enjoyed.
The boy reading about Busytown
Well, his books have been very successful and to some of us they are timeless, but, of course, they had to be “updated” to make them more politically and gender correct.
According to Wikipedia, characters in “cowboy” or “indian” costumes were either removed or given nondescript clothing. Moral and religious elements were altered or removed, and wording like “he comes promptly when called to his breakfast” was changed to “he goes to the kitchen to eat his breakfast”. And so on and so on.
Oh gee whiz.
Dated maybe, but offensive? Discuss amongst yourselves.
*Douglas Adams. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
I was talking to daughter #1 yesterday–I was at work and she was walking down Columbus Avenue on her way to work in New York City. It started to rain and she had to run. There were no toadstools to wait under.
AP photo
It was rainy as well in my flyover town, and I was reminded of this poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882).
The Rainy Day
THE DAY is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.
My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.
But you know, the sun always comes out again…and the tiger lilies are blooming!
Who can be sad for long when these wonderful flowers are blooming in our backyard and all along flyover byways?
Bloggers are fond of featuring gift ideas ‘n such at this time of year. I will desist from compiling a guide of that type, but I do want to point this out:
A literary map of the U.S.A.! (available here) Really, some people are just so clever!
I have yet to blog about any Christmas movies, and last night I had planned to watch (the original, of course) Miracle on 34th Street (1947), starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwen, and little Natalie Wood.
I was inspired after daughters #1 and #2 blogged about this year’s Macy’s parade balloons which they saw up-close and personal this year.
But, lo and behold, the movie was missing from my stash of Christmas movies! Everything else was there on the shelf, but no 1947 Miracle on 34th Street! Really, this is just the worst, isn’t it? When you’re all set to watch something and someone has borrowed it and not returned it! Grrrrr. This put me in a very grumpy mood.
Well, back to the drawing board.
Did you know that there is a Richard Scarry tumblr? Well, there is. It’s called Busy, Busy World, what else?
I have been a Richard Scarry fan for a very long time. I was still getting Richard Scarry books for Christmas well into high school. Yes, indeed, I was. Instant cheer up.
dual personalities 