Crockett Johnson (1906–1975)
Author of Harold and the Purple Crayon
About the Author
Crockett Johnson, pen name for David Johnson Leisk, was born October, 20, 1906 in New York City. He studied art at Cooper Union in 1924 and New York University in 1925. He wrote political cartoons for the New Masses from 1940-1943. In 1942, his popular character Barnaby first appeared in the show more newspaper, PM, and was later syndicated into 52 American newspapers. He married author Ruth Krauss in the early 1940s and illustrated three of her children's books: The Carrot Seed, How to Make an Earthquake, and The Happy Egg. His first children's book, Who's Upside Down? was published in 1952. His well-known series with his character Harold, began in 1955 with Harold and the Purple Crayon. He died of lung cancer on July 11, 1975 at the age of 68. show less
Series
Works by Crockett Johnson
Harold's ABC / Harold and the Purple Crayon / Harold's Fairy Tale / Harold's Trip to the Sky / Harold's Circus (1955) — Author — 217 copies
Harold and the Purple Crayon Board Book Box Set: Harold and the Purple Crayon and Harold's ABC (2015) 21 copies
Barkis;: Some precise and some speculative interpretations of the meaning of a dogs̓ bark at certain times and in… (1956) 7 copies
Saga of Quilby 2 copies
はろるどとむらさきのくれよん 1 copy
Emporer's Gifts, The 1 copy
Harold e la matita viola 1 copy
Paultje op Mars 1 copy
Associated Works
Harold and the Purple Crayon - Let Your Imagination Soar (video recording) (2007) — Author — 3 copies
Linus. Settembre 2018 (Linus 2018) — Author — 1 copy
Linus. Dicembre 2018 (Linus 2018) — Author — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Johnson, Crockett
- Legal name
- Leisk, David Johnson
- Birthdate
- 1906-10-20
- Date of death
- 1975-07-11
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York City, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Westport, Connecticut, USA
- Cause of death
- lung cancer
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
- Education
- Cooper Union
New York University - Occupations
- cartoonist
children's book illustrator
painter - Relationships
- Krauss, Ruth (wife)
Members
Reviews
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
This is a wonderful story about the power of imagination. My son loved it, and I still do.
One night Harold, with his trusty purple crayon, goes for a walk on a tightrope. Down he falls into a circus complete with trapeze, clowns, and lion tamers.
With the aid of his purple crayon, Harold draws a moon, a path and everything else he wants for his walk in the moonlight.
Armed only with a purple crayon, a little boy named Harold draws a moon and a path to walk on, then draws his way into an adventure. Eventually he draws his way back home, and draws himself a bed to sleep in.
Very cute, but seems like it might be trying to appeal more to parents than kids. The stark drawings are beautiful, but it’s a little too long to hold my niece’s attention, and there’s the obvious concern about promoting drawing on walls. I’ll be interested to see if she likes this one more when she’s a little older.… (more)
Very cute, but seems like it might be trying to appeal more to parents than kids. The stark drawings are beautiful, but it’s a little too long to hold my niece’s attention, and there’s the obvious concern about promoting drawing on walls. I’ll be interested to see if she likes this one more when she’s a little older.… (more)
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 65
- Also by
- 12
- Members
- 13,164
- Popularity
- #1,773
- Rating
- 4.2
- Reviews
- 297
- ISBNs
- 206
- Languages
- 12
- Favorited
- 4
