8 ms·
Writing in Pictures: Richard Scarry and the art of children's literature
- bell-cot 2y agoA prior Richard Scarry item on HN, in Aug'23 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37044673 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37044673 (47 comments)
- cafard 2y agoI remember the books as a staple of pediatricians' waiting rooms, and we had some at home, too. Scarry also published a book on how to draw things--cars, I recall, I suppose people and animals.
- topherjaynes 2y agothat and the toy with wires and blocks you could move around.
- stonethrowaway 2y ago[flagged]
- andrewla 2y agoI never experienced Richard Scarry as a child myself. I discovered it for my own children in a pile of books left on someone's stoop to give away. I was immediately blown away by the whimsy and astonishing care put into every detail. My kids obsessively hunted for the "goldbug" on each page of Cars and Trucks and Things That Go (although they never developed a taste for finding Waldo).
- iambateman 2y agoSame. I think I've read C&T&TtG 200 times to my son. Making it to the beach scene always feels like an accomplishment :D
- ojl 2y agoI got the Swedish translation as a kid more than 40 years ago and also spent plenty of time trying to find the goldbug. Still have the book and my kids loved it as well.
- longdustytrail 2y agoI “read” cars and trucks and things that go for my 2 year old every night. He recently found out that goldbug is on every page and now he won’t let me turn the page until we find him. It’s genuinely a lovely book. We got ours from buy nothing, it’s very old and taped up and it has a bunch of writing in it by a kid named Max.
- teachrdan 2y agoWhen your son's interest in finding goldbug inevitably flags, what worked for my kiddo was theatrically sighing, "I wish goldbug was on this page. Oh well..." and then acting like I was going to turn the page before I could be corrected. Then you can escalate to "accidentally" covering goldbug up with your thumb and pretending not to know he's under there. It's basically DLC for your board book!
- xxr 2y agoI was obsessed with Richard Scarry’s intricate drawings as a very small child (which led into devouring all the cutaway books of all sorts of machines as a slightly older child), but I didn’t pick up on the goldbug thing until someone pointed it out a few weeks ago.
- topherjaynes 2y agoRichard Scarry’s books were such a cozy universe growing up, I'd still like to live in "What people do all day." I wonder what that book would look like if he made it today.
- mattkevan 2y agoYou might enjoy Business Town: https://welcometobusinesstown.tumblr.com https://welcometobusinesstown.tumblr.com
- orange_joe 2y agoSeems like a totally different thing, very political and adult oriented.
- tivert 2y agoAlso something about the characters gives me the cold, dead feel AI generated art (even though they do not appear to be AI generated). Can't put my finger on exactly what it is, though.
- egypturnash 2y agoThe posts are from 2015-2020 so these are definitely human-made. Here's some things that are probably giving you that feeling: * every pose is pretty static, nobody's actively doing anything, they're just sitting or standing in the middle of their workplace - Scarry's folks are always running around doing something. * lots and lots of wide eyes with the pupil not touching any part of the edge, which makes them look like a dead doll - I'm looking through some Scarry drawings and he almost never does this, and when he does it's with a much smaller, simpler eye that doesn't require any rendering. * in general these drawings are much more detailed than Scarry's work, there's a lot of nervous repeated mark-making going on, and that would prove to be a hallmark of AI imagesludge a few years later. * "cold and dead" might be something being deliberately aimed for here, "look at all these people who are dead inside" is a definite vibe I could see going for with a project like this - Scarry wants you to like everyone he draws and I do not think this artist wants you to like any of these people. * Scarry's animal people all basically look like cute babies due to his choices of detail and stylization. These all look more like taxidermied animals in a clever pose, due to radically different choices in those domains. One of these things is cute and appealing on an instinctual level. One of these things is kind of creepy.
- Multiplayer 2y agoI read his books every day when really young. He created such a great world to imagine. The note about him moving to Switzerland makes sense - his world did feel really European now that I think about it. My kids, now grown, did not get to experience his books - are his books sold widely anymore?
- edmundsauto 2y agoI have an infant and we have a number of his books. Some bought new.
- showerst 2y agoHis books are still kicking around, although not as big as they used to be. My toddler has a few. They're still lovely books, but I think they're less popular mostly because they're a bit dated now; lots of obsolete jobs and few female animals doing any of the cool jobs.
- vehemenz 2y agoI have a 5yo daughter, and I appreciate that *What Do People Do All Day?* have female characters in homemaker roles, which is still common in most of the world. Many of her other books have female protagonists doing everything else. Part of an education should be learning how other people live, whether it's in the past or in another part of the world. And of course, there's nothing wrong with being a homemaker today.
- tivert 2y ago> I have a 5yo daughter, and I appreciate that What Do People Do All Day? have female characters in homemaker roles, which is still common in most of the world. Many of her other books have female protagonists doing everything else. Is that a new copy or an old one? The newer editions of Best Word Book Ever were updated to be less stereotypical (I think there's a gallery somewhere that shows the changes). Unfortunately the updated art is noticeably inferior (even to my untrained eye), and in some places kinda dumb (on one page I think they decided they needed more girls, so they phoned it in and slapped a big "LISA" on the shirt of some androgynous animal). Also they dropped A LOT of content, so the newer editions are something like half as long.
- doright 2y agoI was most familiar with the DOS games as a child. They even had Red Book soundtracks of the townsfolk singing about various professions. Building the house was my favorite activity back then. https://archive.org/details/BusytownDOS https://archive.org/details/BusytownDOS https://archive.org/details/busytown_dos https://archive.org/details/busytown_dos
- syndeo 2y agoI have fond memories of the Sega Pico Busytown game, played that plenty as a little kid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm55P3ziI84 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm55P3ziI84
- kridsdale3 2y agoThere was a sound clip in one of these that became a long lasting meme in my family, invoked for years and years whenever someone got hurt. "PUT A BANDAGE ON IT"
- camtarn 2y agoI had no idea that there were Busytown games! Very cool, thank you for linking.
- aaronbrethorst 2y agoI loved Richard Scarry when I was little, although I think it instilled in me a belief that the world was in a constant state of chaos. (maybe that’s accurate.) My toddler is now obsessed with them and demands “CARS AND TRUCKS”, “SITE” or “HOUSE” every night at bedtime.
- dingaling 2y ago'Chaos' is a great observation. I only had a couple of Scarry books as a child but there was something dynamic about them compared to most children's books and I think it was the frenetic and chaotic nature of them. There was always a pickle barrel spilling over, or oranges rolling across a road. I didn't even know what a pickle barrel was, but it obviously made a mess when someone crashed into it.
- euroderf 2y agoThe overwhelming & pervasive chaos in all the illustrations kinda bugs me. I wonder if it puts the wrong ideas in a kid's head. Or else I'm just lamous.
- aaronbrethorst 2y agoMr Frumble the apple man has dumped his load of apples on the road by mistake. Lowly thought he had the only apple (n.b. Lowly worm is driving his apple shaped car) on the road, but my isn’t he mistaken!
- throw4847285 2y agoOh hey, this is written by Chris Ware. It makes sense that he would be a huge fan of Scarry.
- ZeroGravitas 2y agoAnd if anyone isn't aware of Chris, he writes and draws amazing, deep, hilarious and sometimes sad graphic novels that defy genre constraints and appeal to and resonate with introverts and nerds. Highly recommended.
- throw4847285 2y agoYeah, though I think I read too many Ware comics and burned out on him a little. There's almost a genre of misanthropic confessional comics about emotionally stunted people that blur genre lines. I'm thinking of the work of Ware, Inio Asano's Goodnight Punpun, some Tom Gauld, Dan Clowes, etc. I read a bunch of those types of comics in a row and by the end I was just depressed. These days I prefer comics that are a little more poignant. I think Taiyo Matsumoto, Emil Ferris, Mariko + Jillian Tamaki, Kate Beaton, even Noah Van Sciver (bleak, but he can laugh himself) all write comics about lonely losers that I find a little less bleak. Still, bleak isn't bad. I just love comics so much, though. Enough to rant on HackerNews about them.
- tikhonj 2y agoI loved Richard Scarry as a child—still do!—and I'm convinced his books really helped build up my vocabulary as I learned English in first grade. A detail I only mentally noted as an adult: the butchers in his books are always pigs themselves. A pig selling ham, sausages and, presumably, cuts of pork is a bit morbid (and also hilarious in a black humor sort of way), but it fits in with the world so much that I didn't even think twice about it as a kid. It just slid past me. I still remember one of the books I had as a child—can't recall the title exactly—that had a bunch of urban scenes with various objects labeled. What really stood out were the little details and funny little stories going on. The stories and the humor got me to pay attention and actually care about the objects (and their labels!) far more than any generic vocabulary book for kids. What I love about Richard Scarry is that he is never patronizing or condescending. Too many authors of children's books either try to write down to kids, try to write what they think kids ought to read, or both. But kids aren't idiots and they can tell! Well, I can't speak for everyone, but at least as a kid myself I found a lot of children's works either patronizing or unpleasant—works that were trying too hard to be childlike or, especially, works that were transparent morality plays. Scarry's work is nothing like this at all. It's oriented for and accessible to kids, but it manages to be simple and silly in a genuine way. The art and stories are actually cute and funny rather than caricatures of what an adult thinks a child would find cute and funny. You can tell Scarry was making something he would enjoy himself. That's why I loved his books when I was five and why I still love his books now. It's hard to find other children's books like that. I collect illustrated books and the majority I see in stores are awful. The most successful exception I've seen are books by Joe Klassen (of I Want My Hat fame) along with his common collaborator Mac Barnett. Their books are legitimately funny and visually attractive to adults, they're willing to write stories that aren't entirely saccharine, and children absolutely love them. I've seen that first-hand.
- tivert 2y ago> A detail I only mentally noted as an adult: the butchers in his books are always pigs themselves. A pig selling ham, sausages and, presumably, cuts of pork is a bit morbid (and also hilarious in a black humor sort of way), but it fits in with the world so much that I didn't even think twice about it as a kid. It just slid past me. Also: every scarecrow has a crow sitting on it.
- neofrommatrix 2y agoI absolutely adore Richard Scarry books. I discovered Richard Scarry a couple of months ago when I was looking for books to read for my 3 year old. Now, not a moment goes by in the evenings when we are reading the adventures of Lowly and his seek and find books. It’s a ritual every night. Richard Scarry and the Grumpy Monkey series are a godsend.
- bityard 2y agoI very HIGHLY recommend the Busytown Eye Found It board game. Kids of all ages have a blast with it, and it's even moderately challenging for adults. We played ours so much we basically wore it out.
- devilbunny 2y agoIf you can find the old editions from before they were bowdlerized... they are often much better. Not everything that was pulled was actually offensive. I'm in my late 40s. I still treasure the high-school graduation gift my parents got me: Richard Scarry autographed one of my well-abused childhood books. Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.
- zolbrek 2y agoWhat are the changes? I still have my childhood copy of What Do People Do All Day and my daughter loves it, might get her some of the other Busytown books.
- devilbunny 2y agoMy work blocks Flickr links, but a set there is linked from https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/2wl35/richard_scarry_1963_vs_1991_pics/ https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/2wl35/richard_s... and I think that's the one I'm thinking of. Lots of changes for gender equality; I can't get too bothered about that, though "letter carrier" is probably going to lose some kids compared to "mailman". But they got rid of the scarecrow (and the crow on it)! And a lot of little turns and phrases that were charming, as I recall. But take a look.
- mikeocool 2y agoMan I loved Richard Scary growing up. I initially thought my 1.5 year old didn’t quite have the attention span for Cars and Trucks and Things that Go yet, but recently, after learning the word bus, he picked it up and dutifully started going through each page and finding all of the buses.
- smusamashah 2y agoLooked at Richard Scarry's books on google images in hopes to find a book I read as a kid but don't remember its name or much of it. Richard's art is similarly colorful but Writing it here in hopes someone else may know? There were some blobby looking ice-cream/sundae in it. And a picture story where someone made very tall icecream. So tall that a helicopter was putting scoops on top (or may be it was placing the cherry on top, but i remember that helicopter touching that icecream). It was a colorful cartoony style art in the book. Having strong imagination as a kid, the pictures in this book always felt real (hard to explain). Then I remember looking at this book many years later as a grown up and not feeling them as real. It's been many many years since then and I want to have a glimpse again.
- influxed 2y agoLooked through all my kids Richard Scarry books and couldn't find that. But might be in Helicopters and Other Fun Things. Internet Archive has it but no logins to borrow books: https://archive.org/details/helicoptersother00newy/mode/thumb https://archive.org/details/helicoptersother00newy/mode/thum...
- skibz 2y agoWhile I never read any of his books, I must have driven my parents mad with how much I watched The Busy World of Richard Scarry on VHS.
- Tokkemon 2y agoIf you've never seen the animated TV series based on the books, you're totally missing out. It's incredible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m76NQMJGtc&list=PL66vbXJhfFtna9UAvQy3vz1oWKbfsDn4P https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m76NQMJGtc&list=PL66vbXJhfF...
- bitwize 2y agoRichard Scarry was a resident of my former hometown of Ridgefield, CT, as was fellow author-illustrator Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are). My school's librarian recommended his books with particular pride. Come to think of it, a lot of children's authors seem to have lived in that area, western CT or eastern upstate NY. Some, including Judy Hawes and Jean Van Leeuwen, came to visit my school to talk about their books, reading in general, etc. In college I referred to the textbooks used by Management Information Systems majors as "Richard Scarry books" because they were full of colorful, busy illustrations and light on technical detail.
- velcrovan 2y agoI can still recall my impressions from reading these books at five years old, and the difference between them and the world I eventually entered does make me sad. I’ve been struck by how the world is depicted to my children in so many children’s books. “As you grow, you’ll be able to slot into a happy productive life, no matter what kind of work you like.” No joke: every time I read my daughter a Richard Scarry book, I wonder when and how it will have to be broken to her that unless her interests happen to include something that pays a living wage, she’s actually fucked for life. Think about what it would be like to grow up or to raise children in a world where the ramp to adulthood was incredibly wide and smooth and it was near-impossible to fall off a cliff into poverty, loneliness, or a life of work you hate. Busytown isn’t a real place, but it was obviously designed to give children some sense of what the world is like or supposed to be like.
- 0xcafefood 2y agoThis is an overly dour take on children's books. I don't disagree that young people (at least in the US) are told a lie like "Do what you love and the money will follow." I fell for that and tried to become research scientist, getting a far as receiving a PhD only to find that the funnel from there to a tenured research job was _extremely_ narrow. That's a giant waste of many motivated people's time. And it does need to be fixed. But is the source of all this Richard Scarry books? I really doubt it. It's okay to give a rosy view of the world to children. Childhood is the longest and best vacation you'll ever take. But there does need to be an incrementally higher dose of "real talk" as children grow into young adults.
- velcrovan 2y agoMaybe I should have been more clear: I see this as a problem with the real world, not with children’s books. The books are good. What’s busted is that so many adults don’t see such a world as worth building and working towards.
- verisimi 2y agoThe story is right, but reality is wrong? Perhaps you have an issue with interpretation here. The pleasant story was the illusion here. PS - I too loved the Richard Scarry books as a child and bought them for my children - and I'm not even from the US.
- te_chris 2y agoMy (nearly) 2 year old reads Cars and Trucks etc. for ages on end like it's a sacred text.
- divbzero 2y agoCars and Trucks and Things That Go is a child favorite and What Do People Do All Day has great depictions of saw mills, flour mills, power plants, and more, but I like Richard Scarry’s I Am a Bunny the most: The pages are filled edge-to-edge with his vibrant illustrations (no whitespace as in his other books) and the story by Ole Risom describes the timeless passing of the seasons.
- T-will 2y agoSeconded. I recently read I Am a Bunny to my toddler. I was totally blown away by the artwork. Every night I found myself hoping that she request it.
- drummojg 2y agoI still remember looking at these with my mother when I was small. We loved to hunt for Gold Bug. She told me later in life that her favorite was, "Lowly worm washes his face and foot." (He always wore a sock and shoe on the end of his tail.)
- balls187 2y agoMost likely know this, but in many books there is a gold bug to be found on each image set.
- andrewstuart 2y agoFor a very long time - maybe years - every night I would ask my little boy what he wanted me to read him at bedtime. ALWAYS he would say "Robber Book!" which was a Richard Scarry book that had a couple of robbers/burglars in it. In hindsight it was the cars he liked the most - cars are a major feature of Richard Scarry books and my little boy was car crazy from the moment he was born it seems.
- gwern 2y ago> There were, of course, obstacles. One of the less appealing features of Golden’s business practice was that, with rare exceptions, they offered no royalties. This arrangement nagged at Scarry, especially after his and Patricia’s son Huck was born in 1953, so in 1955 he finally asked the imposing white-haired and lavender-blue-eyed Lucille Ogle for a revised contract that included royalties—and an advance. She readily agreed. Surprised, Scarry asked why she hadn’t offered such a deal earlier. “Because you never asked,” she replied.
- drillsteps5 2y agoBought some of these when my kids were between 3-5 yo. Several years ago they re-published a series of them, including the cars and trucks, what do people do all day, the funny stories, and a few others (I think 6 books in total). I got the entire series at B&N, they were easily the favorite books of my youngest who was about 4 or 5 at the time. I had no idea they were so old!
- jfk13 2y agoFor something that's more of a substantial story than things like Cars & Trucks or Busy Busy Town, let me put in a word for Peasant Pig and the Terrible Dragon. My kids had it pretty much memorized long before they could read it for themselves.
- GeekyBear 2y agoIt's interesting to see relatively new works that have been beloved by generations of my immediate family. Richard Scary's illustrstions were absolute favorites for myself, my siblings and all of our offspring when we were looking at books before we learned to read, and The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster later became our favorite book as young readers.
- autumnstwilight 2y agoMundane childhood incident that somehow became a core memory: Trying to tell my 2nd grade teacher I wanted to bring a Richard Scarry book to show and tell and she was convinced I was talking about "witches scary" and therefore it would be great for Halloween. I then became incredibly frustrated while trying to enunciate "Richard" in a way that she would understand.
- niggaman62420 2y ago[flagged]
- tomasGiden 2y agoI loved the books as a child and as a father I love reading them for my children. And they love them too. Some things have not aged well in them though. Thinking specifically around the gender roles. Not matching Sweden of today. Basically all men are working and having a good time and the women are taking care of children and their husbands. But I sometimes make a lesson of that and tell them that it used to be more like that and ask them whom of my wife and I do different chores and takes care of them. Then we can laugh about it a bit together instead of me grinding my teeth. “Mom’s work is never done”.
- appguy 2y agoMy daughter loved his Bedtime Stories book. We read it countless times. The characters are cute and the stories are hilarious.