Richard Scarry (1919–1994)

Richard Scarry’s Busy Busy World is such a fun book to share with kids. It takes you on little adventures all over the globe with his silly animal characters, and each story gives a quick peek into different places and cultures. The pages are full of bright, detailed pictures that kids love to look at again and again.

What I like most is how it mixes learning with laughter. The stories are playful and light, but they also spark curiosity about the world. It’s the kind of book that makes show more kids giggle while also helping them see that the world is big, diverse, and exciting. show less

Who doesn't love Richard Scarry's work? Well I certainly do. I was hooked from the very first time I came across it and my kids have all loved the various books. I'm just looking at the current book and the story about Uncle Willy and the Pirates. What a wonderful story....it combines adventure, inventiveness, humour, and has a feel-good ending. Just great for kids. (And I still love it). And the drawings and the characters; so inventive, so clever, so much fun! I did a little research and show more found Scarry had to re-write some of his stuff to cater for changing social attitudes: eg "pretty stewardess" changed to "flight attendant". I actually find this quite interesting because it really reflects changing public morals. What was quite ok in 1950 is not longer quite ok. But clearly he was able to adapt. Often there is some sort of moralistic ideas behind some of the stories; good triumphs over bad, people are generally good, or have good intentions; careless and unthinking people like "speedboat spike" are brought to heel and constrained in a paddling pool; there are often some lovely footnote twists ...such as "But who is that that I see in a tiny speedboat......etc".So much to engage the mind and imagination of children. And lovely characters. Who can forget "lowly worm", or "Sergeant Murphy"?.......though is Sergeant Murphy somewhat of an Irish Stereotype? Well, anyway, Scarry gets a big 5 stars from me. Just love his work and love his art. show less

I'm not always crazy about Richard Scary books, but this one is brilliant. He has all his nutty little things going, but he just happens to slide in the explanations of how birds fly, how lift works to make airplanes fly, how jet engines work and a detailed little bit on traveling to the moon and back. Also, there are several small self-contained stories. So it's easy for my 4-yr-old daughter to pick a favorite chapter. I highly recommend this one.

Richard Scarry's books are a treat.
You can get lost in the beautiful and wonderfully detailed illustrations.
His worlds are alive, and vibrant, as few artists are able to bring to paper.
As a child I had some of these stories collected in separate books.
My favourite was Harry and Larry the Fishermen.
When an illustrated book manages to really catch a child's rapt attention and immagination the experience becomes almost synesthetic, doesn't it? Objects are almost felt by one's reaching hands show more and all but attain a weight of their own. Foods that one has never tasted acquire a mythical flavor that real life will never mach or be able to compete with; and so, little me found herself in a harbour of a northern sea watching tugboats on the horizon. show less