Howard R. Garis (1873–1962)
Author of Uncle Wiggily's Story Book
About the Author
Howard R. Garis was born in 1873 in Binghamton, New York. A popular author and journalist, he wrote many mystery and adventure books for children, as well as newspaper and magazine stories. His very first Uncle Wiggily story was published in The Newark News in January 1910, and was an immediate show more success. For the next fifty years, a new Uncle Wiggily adventure appeared almost daily, and the series was nationally syndicated. Howard Garis died in 1962 show less
Image credit: Howard R. Garis & Uncle Wiggly
Series
Works by Howard R. Garis
Tom Swift and His Airship; or, The Stirring Cruise of the Red Cloud (1910) — ghostwriter — 194 copies, 2 reviews
Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle; or, Fun and Adventures on the Road (1910) — ghostwriter — 190 copies, 3 reviews
Tom Swift and His Motor-Boat; or, The Rivals of Lake Carlop (1910) — ghostwriter — 161 copies, 4 reviews
Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat; or, Under the Ocean for Sunken Treasure (1910) — ghostwriter — 117 copies, 3 reviews
Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers; or, The Secret of Phantom Mountain (1911) — ghostwriter — 105 copies, 2 reviews
Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders; or, The Underground Search for the Idol of Gold (1917) — ghostwriter — 102 copies
Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice; or, The Wreck of the Airship (1911) — ghostwriter — 102 copies, 1 review
Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle; or, Daring Adventures in Elephant Land (1911) — ghostwriter — 93 copies
Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera; or, Thrilling Adventures While Taking Moving Pictures (1912) — ghostwriter — 88 copies, 1 review
Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone; or, The Picture that Saved a Fortune (1914) — ghostwriter — 86 copies
Tom Swift and His Big Dirigible; or, Adventures Over the Forest of Fire (1930) — Ghostwriter — 40 copies, 2 reviews
Tom Swift and His Chest of Secrets; or, Tracing the Stolen Inventions (1925) — ghostwriter — 39 copies
Uncle Wiggily and the Black Cricket 5 copies
Uncle Wiggily's Apple Roast 4 copies
Uncle Wiggily and the Starfish 3 copies
Uncle Wiggily's Arabian Nights 3 copies
"Mostly Mary" 2 copies
Mystery boys at Round lake 2 copies
The Curlytops Touring Around 2 copies
Uncle Wiggily at the beach 2 copies
Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat: The 2010 Rewrite (100th Anniversary Rewrite Project Book 4) (2010) 2 copies
Uncle Wiggily's Airship 1 copy
Uncle Wiggilys Adventures 1 copy
To the Rescue 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Empty Watch 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Silk Hat 1 copy
Tom Swift and His Motorboat: The 2010 Rewrite (100th Anniversary Rewrite Project Book 2) (2014) 1 copy
Uncle Wigglily's Story Book 1 copy
Uncle Wigglily's Automobile 1 copy
The Moving Picture Game 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Surprises 1 copy
The Argosy for August 1 copy
The Argosy for November 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Library 1 copy
Daddy Takes Us to the Circus 1 copy
Uncle Wiggly and the Cowbird 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Woodland Games: Or, Uncle Wiggily Thought He Could Skip the Grape Vine Rope (1931) 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily The Red Spots 1 copy
Uncle Wiggilys Fishing Trip 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Bungalow 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Big Bounce 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Egg Bag 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Funny Sail 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Snow Plow 1 copy
The Barber Shop 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily's Accident 1 copy
Uncle Wiggily and the Lemons 1 copy
Associated Works
Tom Swift in the City of Gold; or, Marvelous Adventures Underground (1912) — Ghost writer, some editions — 105 copies
Science Fiction by Gaslight: A History and Anthology of Science Fiction in the Popular Magazines, 1891-1911 (1974) — Contributor, some editions — 61 copies
Alternative Alices: Visions and Revisions of Lewis Carroll's Alice Books : An Anthology (1997) — Contributor — 43 copies, 1 review
Flora Curiosa: Cryptobotany, Mysterious Fungi, Sentient Trees, and Deadly Plants in Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy (2008) — Contributor — 7 copies
The Space Annihilator: Early Science Fiction from The Argosy, 1896-1910 (2010) — Contributor — 4 copies
Mystery and Adventure Stories for Boys: Four Complete Books — Contributor — 3 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Garis, Howard R.
- Legal name
- Garis, Howard Roger
- Other names
- Appleton, Victor
Chadwick, Lester
Davidson, Marion
Hope, Laura Lee
Powell, Van
Sperry, Raymond (show all 7)
Young, Clarence - Birthdate
- 1873-04-23
- Date of death
- 1962-11-06
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- reporter
author - Organizations
- Neward [New Jersey] Evening News
- Relationships
- Garis, Lilian (wife)
Garis, Roger (son)
Garis, Leslie (granddaughter) - Short biography
- Howard R. Garis was a reporter for the Evening News in Newark, New Jersey. He, along with his wife, Lilian, also a writer and the first newspaperwoman in New Jersey, and their two grown children, wrote adventure stores under various names for juvenile literature syndicator Edward L. Stratemeyer. Fortune magazine dubbed then "The Writing Garises" in 1934. They wrote more than 500 titles, and all or part of a dozen series, including Tom Swift, The Bobbsey Twins, and Baseball Joe. E. M. Scudder asked Garis to write children's stories for the Evening News, and these became the Uncle Wiggily Longears series, which Lilian Garis continued after her husband's death in 1962. [adapted from Favorite Uncle Wiggily Animal Bedtime Stores, introduction (1998)]
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Binghamton, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- East Orange, New Jersey, USA
Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Binghamton, New York, USA - Place of death
- Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
The Tom Swift stories were favorites of my dad when he was a kid and everything from Project Gutenberg is free, so I popped one onto my Kindle. I actually had a ball reading it, though perhaps not in the way that the author intended. It was all just so, "Gosh, Dad, let's go down into the basement and put together a submarine in a couple of weeks." It was fun to watch all the hand-waving at how things worked. Need a submarine that can descend to three miles underwater? No problem, just use a show more triple steel hull with "layers of secret material between them that can withstand enormous pressure." Want to figure out how to navigate underwater in those days when sonar was cumbersome? Just put in glass windows that are "really strong" (able to withstand over 7050 pounds per square inch, if I remember my calculations from scuba class correctly).
It managed to cross that line separating really bad from amusing. Since it only took an hour to read, I can actually envision picking up another one someday just for fun. ;-) show less
It managed to cross that line separating really bad from amusing. Since it only took an hour to read, I can actually envision picking up another one someday just for fun. ;-) show less
Children's books of the Uncle Wiggily series compile stories that appeared in daily newspapers between 1910 and the late 1930s. They star an "elderly gentleman" rabbit with rheumatism who travels around with a crutch and a valise. As kids, my siblings and I had at least two of the Uncle Wiggily series.
In Uncle Wiggily's Travels the lagomorph is out seeking his fortune. In each chapter, he encounters other talking animals as well as talking plants, such as Sammie and Susie Littletail (Uncle show more Wiggily's young nephew and niece); Lulu, Alice, and Jimmie Wibblewobble (the duck children), and the Skillery Skallery Alligator. In a common theme, he or one of his new friends is hunted by a predator -- fox, bears, and the aforementioned alligator among them. As is common in children's tales, carnivores are wicked, dangerous critters who must be outwitted.
For fun, I picked up a copy of Uncle Wiggily's Travels published in 1939, and frankly, I found it awfully lame. The stories all have similar plots, and the author's attempts at humor are not successful. The rabbit never does find his fortune, and while I expected a trite ending end in which he realized that good friends were worth more than the money he sought, the last story just ended like the others. C'est la vie; it's kid stuff after all. show less
In Uncle Wiggily's Travels the lagomorph is out seeking his fortune. In each chapter, he encounters other talking animals as well as talking plants, such as Sammie and Susie Littletail (Uncle show more Wiggily's young nephew and niece); Lulu, Alice, and Jimmie Wibblewobble (the duck children), and the Skillery Skallery Alligator. In a common theme, he or one of his new friends is hunted by a predator -- fox, bears, and the aforementioned alligator among them. As is common in children's tales, carnivores are wicked, dangerous critters who must be outwitted.
For fun, I picked up a copy of Uncle Wiggily's Travels published in 1939, and frankly, I found it awfully lame. The stories all have similar plots, and the author's attempts at humor are not successful. The rabbit never does find his fortune, and while I expected a trite ending end in which he realized that good friends were worth more than the money he sought, the last story just ended like the others. C'est la vie; it's kid stuff after all. show less
I was working the Friends of the Library book sale, straightening up the children's tables, which tend towards untidiness. And because we are more interested in recirculating the books than in making bank, children's books (through teen) are 3 for free to kids and teachers. Plus, it was Hog Day so a lot of families out enjoying the weather (not unspeakably hot and humid) and barbecue and taking pictures with Stormy the Hurricanes mascot. It was a great way to spend an afternoon, not least of show more which because book people loading up on cheap books at a library fundraiser, are just the happiest, most cheerful people. They become even more cheerful when they realize they get free books, too. Everyone was so sweet: if they didn't realize about the freebies they just turned around and donated at least as much as they would have spent. Even the kids who might have been dragging after a long day seemed to cheer up. So, now you know if you didn't already: every bit as happy-making as wallowing in a puppy pit, and the messes are easier to clean up.
Whilst tidying up this one caught my eye. Well, those trousers on the cover pop, and a dapper bunny chap is worth admiring. Up until that moment the only association I had with Uncle Wiggily was Salinger's story. I have since learned that my husband was exposed to one of the very old games, which had lead figures for markers, and impressed him no end. Sadly, there are none of those listed for sale online: mostly there are sets now reduced to board only.
Reader, I brought home Uncle Wiggily. I had no idea what the extensive series was about (lots of food, lots of flashy autos, just like Nancy Drew's of the same era. Whatever the rest are like, this one was awfully appealing. Uncle is a kind-hearted sort, easily pleased, and keen to help others. This rabbit would probably enjoy delivering chocolate of an early Spring morning. Often the books people remember with love from their childhoods are a wee bit disappointing for first-time adult readers. So maybe I just had very low expectations. Really, though, I think Garis was just a good storyteller as well as a newspaper writer and a prolific producer of children's books. I might even have to try a Bobbsey Twins book next. Especially since I am unlikely to run across many of these Uncle Wiggilys.
Edited to add, almost immediately after posting: The artist is uncredited, more's the pity. The cover slays. My commendation to the colorist, too. Those red pants are magnificently red.
Really, it was a very good day.
Personal copy, now show less
Whilst tidying up this one caught my eye. Well, those trousers on the cover pop, and a dapper bunny chap is worth admiring. Up until that moment the only association I had with Uncle Wiggily was Salinger's story. I have since learned that my husband was exposed to one of the very old games, which had lead figures for markers, and impressed him no end. Sadly, there are none of those listed for sale online: mostly there are sets now reduced to board only.
Reader, I brought home Uncle Wiggily. I had no idea what the extensive series was about (lots of food, lots of flashy autos, just like Nancy Drew's of the same era. Whatever the rest are like, this one was awfully appealing. Uncle is a kind-hearted sort, easily pleased, and keen to help others. This rabbit would probably enjoy delivering chocolate of an early Spring morning. Often the books people remember with love from their childhoods are a wee bit disappointing for first-time adult readers. So maybe I just had very low expectations. Really, though, I think Garis was just a good storyteller as well as a newspaper writer and a prolific producer of children's books. I might even have to try a Bobbsey Twins book next. Especially since I am unlikely to run across many of these Uncle Wiggilys.
Edited to add, almost immediately after posting: The artist is uncredited, more's the pity. The cover slays. My commendation to the colorist, too. Those red pants are magnificently red.
Really, it was a very good day.
Personal copy, now show less
The very first Tom Swift book, from 1910, is a bit of fun, but only a bit. It is a far cry from the science-fictional Tom Swift I read a few adventures of in the 1960s. Those books were from a later, much different second series. This book is very much grounded in 1910, and the setting (New York State) is quite interesting. Not so interesting is the book's casual racism as Tom meets up with a black man named Eradicate Sampson, who is called a "darky" numerous times and refers to himself as a show more "coon". Each time Tom meets him, he is sitting hopelessly while some machine or another fails to work, which Tom, of course, fixes quickly, leaving Eradicate marveling at how smart he is. Throughout the book, Tom is referred to as "the young inventor" or "our hero". Of course, this is hardly a book for adults. Kids are supposed to admire Tom for his intelligence and his industriousness, although he makes more than one mistake during the book that gets him into trouble (and prolongs the plot.) The plot itself is modern enough. A group of men, working for some unscrupulous lawyers, are trying to steal an invention from Tom's father, inventor Barton Swift. When reading a book like this, one knows it will have a happy ending, but dark clouds still loom ahead, as in the tradition of other books from the same publishing syndicate, the next adventure is introduced on the final pages. I can't say I didn't enjoy reading this, but it is definitely lacking the plotting and characterization of the best Hardy Boys books I remember from my youth. show less
Lists
Sonlight Books (1)
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 318
- Also by
- 11
- Members
- 4,999
- Popularity
- #5,014
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 39
- ISBNs
- 621
- Favorited
- 5