1939-1942:

Showing no interest nor talent for a career in the family store, Scarry was enrolled as a student at the Art School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

1943-1945:

As the United States entered the Second World War, in 1943, Scarry was drafted into the Army, becoming a 2nd Lieutenant, assigned to Special Services: a unit for the morale and entertainment of the troops. From his post at Allied Headquarters in Algiers, he was told ‘to tell the troops why they are fighting, and send them news from home.’

He asked that a copy of Time Magazine be flown to his office each week from the US. Scarry then distilled the news and drew maps and posters. These were his first steps towards what he’d later become.

1945 - 1948:

At the end of the War, Scarry went to New York to start a career as a commercial artist. He began receiving commissions for advertising and magazines. At a party in Greenwich Village he met Patricia Murphy, who wrote advertising copy at Young and Rubicam. Within a few weeks, they were married.

1948 - 1949:

Scarry’s agent suggested that he do some children’s book illustrations, and sent him to a new publisher called Artists and Writers Guild. They had recently begun a line of good-quality children’s books, at only 25 cents: Little Golden Books. His first illustrated book was Two Little Miners, by Margaret Wise Brown, published 1949. In that year alone, he illustrated six Little Golden Books.

1950:

Richard and Patsy sailed to Europe for the summer. They spent time in Villefranche and St. Jean Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera, Italy, Paris, and St Anton am Arlberg in Tirol. Here Richard purchased the iconic Tyrolean hat he wore for many years, and which also found its way onto the heads of numerous of his animal characters… most notably, later, to that of Lowly Worm.

1951-1958:

Richard and Patsy moved to the country, to a small cottage on a farm in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Scarry’s first book, both written and illustrated by him, was published in 1951: The Great Big Car and Truck Book. Their son “Huck” was born in 1953. Patsy also wrote stories for children, which Richard would illustrate. Among these were Danny Beaver’s Secret, 1953, Pierre Bear, 1954, and The Bunny Book, 1955.

1959-1963:

The little farm cottage was beginning to feel a bit too small and isolated, Scarry found a house by the seaside in Westport, Connecticut, from where it would be only an hour’s train ride into New York to visit his publishers. During this time, Scarry developed a series of adventure stories called Tinker and Tanker, published by Doubleday.

1963:

Scarry took his family to visit Europe. They sailed on the SS France, were equipped with a Eurailpass, with which they travelled across Europe. I Am A Bunny, written by his editor Ole Risom, was published. So, too, Richard’s landmark title: The Best Word Book Ever. It marked the start of his large-format educational books.

1968:

Scarry decided that the family should live in Switzerland for a year. The family would learn some French, and they would be closer to the ski-slopes. Scarry rented-out the house, and with just three small suitcases, the family settled in Ouchy, Lausanne, on the shore of Lake Geneva.

1969-1994:

Scarry was at his most prolific: Great Big Schoolhouse, 1969, ABC Word Book, 1971, Great Big Air Book, 1971, Funniest Storybook Ever, 1972, Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, 1974, and more were created. The beauty of Switzerland and the charm of its architecture found its way into many of his illustrations. They would spend their summers in St Jean Cap Ferrat, where Richard would continue to work from a small folding easel. In 1972, Scarry bought a small chalet in the village of Gstaad and they would travel regularly to Morocco and to Kenya. Richard Scarry died in Saanen, Gstaad on April 30, 1994.

Richard's son Huck carries-on his father's work, and has himself written and illustrated numerous books with his father's charming characters. Huck delights at meeting excited readers at events around the world.

A selection of books by Huck Scarry:

The Night Before the Night Before Christmas
The Adventures of Lowly Worm
A Day at the Airport
A Day at the Fire Station
A Day at the Police Station
Busiest Firefighters Ever