HomeGroupsTalkZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.
Author photo. portrait of H.A.Rey in early seventies reading to children at Cambridge Adult Education Center by Elsa Dorfman, www.elsa.photo.net

portrait of H.A.Rey in early seventies reading to children at Cambridge Adult Education Center by Elsa Dorfman, www.elsa.photo.net

H. A. Rey (1898–1977)

Author of Curious George

Includes the names: H.A.Rey, Hans Augusto Rey, By (author) H. A. Rey
Also includes: Rey (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityRatingFavorited   Events   
50,177 (60,771)500290 (3.89)7
Hans Augusto Rey was born on September 16, 1898 in Hamburg, Germany. He escaped to Paris with his wife after the Nazi's invaded. While in Paris, Hans's animal drawings came to the attention of French publisher, who commissioned him to write a children's book. The result, Rafi and the Nine Monkeys, is little remembered today, but one of its characters, an adorably impish monkey named Curious George, was such a success that the couple considered writing a book just about him. Their work was interrupted with the outbreak of World War II. As Jews, the Reys decided to flee Paris before the Nazis seized the city. Hans built two bicycles, and they fled Paris just a few hours before it fell. Among the meager possessions they brought with them was the illustrated manuscript of Curious George. The books were published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941. Curious George was an instant success, and the Reys were commissioned to write more adventures of the mischievous monkey and his friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. They wrote seven stories in all. Their title Happy Halloween made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2013. At first, Margret's name was left off the cover because there was a glut of women already writing children's fiction. In later editions, this was corrected, and Margret now receives full credit for her role in developing the stories. H. A. Rey died in 1977 and in 1989 Margaret Rey established the Curious George Foundation to help creative children and prevent cruelty to animals. (Bowker Author Biography) — biography from Curious George… (more)
Disambiguation Notice

Despite being married, H.A. Rey and Margret Rey are two different people. Please do not combine their separate author pages. Also, do not combine either Margret or H.A. with pages that have both their names.

Curious George 6,107 copies, 90 reviews
Curious George Rides a Bike 3,048 copies, 31 reviews
Curious George Gets a Medal 1,984 copies, 12 reviews
Curious George Makes Pancakes 1,888 copies, 9 reviews
Curious George Flies a Kite 1,790 copies, 11 reviews
Curious George Goes to the Hospital (Author) 1,688 copies, 12 reviews
Curious George Takes a Job 1,596 copies, 12 reviews
Curious George and the Puppies 1,362 copies, 5 reviews
The Stars: A New Way to See Them 1,342 copies, 9 reviews
Curious George Visits the Library 1,292 copies, 16 reviews
Curious George and the Firefighters 1,255 copies, 7 reviews
Find the Constellations 1,127 copies, 5 reviews
Curious George Learns the Alphabet 875 copies, 16 reviews
Curious George and the Dump Truck 785 copies, 2 reviews
Curious George at the Aquarium 780 copies, 10 reviews
Curious George Goes to the Beach 754 copies, 7 reviews
Curious George Visits a Toy Store 721 copies, 4 reviews
Curious George in the Snow 610 copies, 4 reviews
Curious George Goes to a Movie 587 copies, 1 review
Curious George Plays Baseball 564 copies, 1 review
Pretzel 546 copies, 7 reviews
Curious George Takes a Train 540 copies, 5 reviews
Curious You: On Your Way! (Illustrator) 484 copies, 9 reviews
Curious George's ABCs 450 copies, 4 reviews
Curious George and the Bunny 439 copies, 4 reviews
Curious George's Dream 405 copies, 1 review
Curious George's Opposites 288 copies, 4 reviews
Curious George and the Rocket 254 copies, 1 review
Curious George in the Big City 246 copies, 1 review
Curious George's Are You Curious? (Illustrator) 231 copies
Spotty 188 copies, 4 reviews
Curious George Goes to the Zoo 158 copies, 3 reviews
Curious George at the Ballet 154 copies, 1 review
Curious George at the Airport 115 copies, 1 review
Sweet Dreams, Curious George (Illustrator) 101 copies, 1 review
See the Circus 78 copies, 1 review
Curious George's Neighborhood (Author) 75 copies, 1 review
Billy's Picture 57 copies
Know the stars 44 copies
Curious George: Color Fun (Author) 37 copies
Curious George Joins the Team 29 copies, 11 reviews
The Curious George Library (Author) 24 copies
Whose House? 18 copies
Curious George Votes 18 copies, 2 reviews
Favorite Stories 16 copies, 1 review
Curious George Hide-and-Seek (Author) 14 copies
Farm Babies 11 copies
Curious George Curious About Phonics: How Many? (Author; Illustrator) 9 copies, 1 review
Rey, H.A. 1 copy
Merry Christmas, Curious George (Series Creator) 1,181 copies, 7 reviews
Katy No-Pocket (Illustrator) 916 copies, 12 reviews
Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery (Creator) 718 copies, 1 review
Curious George Plants a Seed (Creator) 449 copies, 1 review
Curious George Plants A Tree (Creator) 437 copies, 7 reviews
Happy Easter, Curious George (Creator) 415 copies, 1 review
Curious George: A Winter's Nap (Creator) 409 copies, 3 reviews
Curious George Says Thank You (Creator) 318 copies, 1 review
Curious George: The Kite (Creator) 253 copies, 1 review
Curious George Cleans Up (Creator) 190 copies, 1 review
Curious George Saves His Pennies (Creator) 182 copies, 2 reviews
Curious George: Piñata Party (Creator) 180 copies
Curious George Colors Eggs (Creator) 170 copies
Happy Thanksgiving, Curious George (Creator) 163 copies, 1 review
Curious George: Farm to Table (Creator) 145 copies
Curious George: Dinosaur Tracks (Creator) 140 copies, 1 review
Curious George: A Home for Honeybees (Creator) 138 copies, 1 review
Don't Frighten the Lion (Illustrator) 136 copies, 2 reviews
Curious George: Home Run (Creator) 100 copies, 1 review
Curious George Plays Mini Golf (Creator) 98 copies, 1 review
Where Is Curious George? (Creator) 78 copies, 1 review
Curious George: Fire Dog Rescue (Creator) 78 copies, 1 review
Happy Hanukkah, Curious George (Creator) 77 copies
Happy St. Patrick's Day, Curious George (Creator) 76 copies, 1 review
It's Ramadan, Curious George (Creator) 74 copies, 3 reviews
Curious George: The Perfect Carrot (Creator, some editions) 63 copies
Curious George: Chasing Waves (Creator) 62 copies
The Family Storybook Treasury 60 copies, 1 review
Curious George Windy Delivery (Creator) 52 copies
Where is Curious George? Around the Town (Creator) 44 copies, 1 review
Curious George: Lost and Found (Creator) 42 copies
Curious George Discovers Germs (Creator) 38 copies
Curious George: Dragon Dance (Creator) 35 copies
Curious George: Museum Mystery (Creator) 34 copies, 1 review
Curious George: Circus Act (Series Creator) 33 copies
Curious George: Race Day (Series Creator) 32 copies, 1 review
Happy Birthday, Curious George (Creator) 25 copies
Curious George: Discovery Day (Creator) 24 copies, 2 reviews
Curious George Grows a Garden (Creator) 20 copies
_Picture Books (148) adventure (239) alphabet (126) animals (872) astronomy (456) board book (280) children (746) children's (1,112) children's book (184) children's books (239) children's fiction (195) children's literature (304) Christmas (257) classic (176) community helpers (158) constellations (124) curiosity (319) Curious George (3,279) fiction (1,564) food (143) hardcover (143) humor (143) kids (312) library (184) mischief (199) monkey (745) monkeys (1,106) non-fiction (122) own (135) paperback (172) picture (159) picture book (2,127) read (162) school (126) science (340) series (308) stars (133) to-read (141) transportation (138) zoo (154)
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical name
Legal name
Other names
Date of birth
Date of death
Burial location
Gender
Nationality
Country (for map)
Birthplace
Place of death
Cause of death
Places of residence
Education
Occupations
Relationships
Agents
Organizations
Awards and honors
Short biography
H.A. Rey was born Hans Augusto Reyersbach in Hamburg, Germany, as was his future wife Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein, known as Margret. Both of them had German Jewish fathers. The couple first met in Hamburg as teenagers. They met again in 1935 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Hans was working as a salesman and Margret had gone to escape the Nazis regime in Germany. They married that year and moved to Paris. There Hans's animal drawings came to the attention of a publisher, who commissioned him to write a children's book that contained a monkey character called Curious George. In June 1940, the couple fled the German invasion of France on bicycles made by Hans, with only the clothes on their backs and the manuscript of a new book about Curious George. They reached Bayonne, France where they managed to obtain visas for Spain; from there, they went on to the USA, settling in New York City. They sold Curious George to Houghton Mifflin, which published it in 1941. It was an instant success, and the Reys were commissioned to write more books about the mischievous monkey and his friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. They wrote seven stories in all, with Hans mainly doing the illustrations and Margret working mostly on the text, though they cooperating fully in every stage of development. The Curious George books have sold more than 25 million copies around the world and the original story has never been out of print. The Reys moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963 and lived there until Hans's death in 1977. A children's bookstore named Curious George & Friends (formerly Curious George Goes to Wordsworth) was founded in Cambridge Square the 1990s by friends.
Disambiguation notice
Despite being married, H.A. Rey and Margret Rey are two different people. Please do not combine their separate author pages. Also, do not combine either Margret or H.A. with pages that have both their names.

Member ratings

Average: (3.89)
0.5 4
1 52
1.5 6
2 172
2.5 39
3 729
3.5 77
4 918
4.5 66
5 973

Improve this author

Combine/separate works

Author division

H. A. Rey is currently considered a "single author." If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author.

Includes

H. A. Rey is composed of 5 names. You can examine and separate out names.

Combine with…

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 188,722,963 books! | Top bar: Always visible