09/17/2021
Happy Birthday, H.A. Rey!
H.A. Rey, one half of the husband-and-wife team known best
for creating the beloved character “Curious George”, was born September 17, 1898,
in Hamburg Germany. He and his wife, Margret, were German Jews living in Montmartre,
Paris, from which they escaped when the Nazis invaded, riding bicycles they
built themselves and carrying the manuscript for the first installment in the “Curious
George” series in a suitcase.
First published in 1941, “Curious George” was an instant success,
and the Reys were commissioned to write several more books about the cheeky
little monkey and his friend, The Man in the Yellow Hat. Together they wrote
seven delightful children’s stories.
H.A. Rey was also extremely interested in astronomy and
found the then-extant astronomy charts difficult to memorize. He created easier-to-remember
charts that are still in use today, as well as publishing his own astronomy
book, “The Stars: A New Way to See Them”, in 1952.
So hats off (be they yellow or not) to H.A. Rey on this, the
123rd anniversary of his birth! Find our “Curious George” books by
clicking here.