H. A. Rey (1898–1977)
Author of Curious George
About the Author
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, show more 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) show less
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.
Image credit: portrait of H.A.Rey in early seventies reading to children at Cambridge Adult Education Center by Elsa Dorfman, www.elsa.photo.net
Series
Works by H. A. Rey
Curious George and Friends: Favorite Stories by Margret and H.A. Rey (8-in-1) (2003) — Author — 170 copies, 1 review
Jorge el curioso: De basura a tesoro / Curious George: Trash into Treasure (CGTV Bilingual Reader) (English and Spanish… (2019) 21 copies
Curious George Rides a Bike, The Little Red Hen, 14 Rats and a Rat Catcher, and more (2006) 12 copies
Curious Baby Everyday Shapes Puzzle Book: A Puzzle Play Book (Curious Baby Curious George) (2012) 8 copies
My First Curious George 3-Book Box Set: My First Curious George, Curious George: My First Bike, Curious George: My… (2022) 6 copies
Yellow hat and help Maneko people (large picture book) (1983) ISBN: 4001109212 [Japanese Import] (1983) 6 copies
Curious Baby My Curious Dreamer Gift Set (Curious George Book & Blankie) (Curious Baby Curious George) (2010) 6 copies
Builds a Tree House 5 copies
My First Curious George 3-Book Box Set: My First Curious George, Curious George: My First Bike, Curious George: My… (2022) 4 copies
Curious George Farm to Table (CGTV) 3 copies
Curious Baby My Growing World (Curious George Fold-Out Board Book and Growth Chart) (Curious Baby Curious George) (2011) 3 copies
Curious George Adventures in Learning, Grade 1: Story-based learning (Learning with Curious George) (2015) 2 copies
Find the Constellation 1 copy
Curious George Cloth Book 1 copy
Curious George Home Run by Rey, H. A. [HMH Books for Young Readers, 2012] Paperback [Paperback] 1 copy
Curious George Takes a Job 1 copy
Curious George Wins a Medal 1 copy
Tommy helps, too 1 copy
Rey, H.A. 1 copy
Curious George Plush Monkey 1 copy
Peter Pedal i Zoologisk Have 1 copy
Curious George Story Kit 1 copy
Zoro Rides a Bike 1 copy
George cel curios 1 copy
Zozo takes a job 1 copy
Peter Pedal og raketten 1 copy
Peter Pedal og raketten 1 copy
The Original Curious George 1 copy
From abc to xyz 1 copy
Costumes 1 copy
The best! 1 copy
What does George like? 1 copy
Zebrology 1 copy
Billy's Picture 1 copy
Curious George's Dreams 1 copy
Curious Geroge Rides a Bike 1 copy
Associated Works
The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury: Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud (1998) — Author — 1,612 copies, 14 reviews
Curious George Curious About Phonics: The Best! — Creator — 9 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Rey, Hans Augusto
- Other names
- Reyersbach, Hans Augusto
- Birthdate
- 1898-09-16
- Date of death
- 1977-08-26
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Germany (birth)
USA - Birthplace
- Hamburg, Germany
- Place of death
- Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Places of residence
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Paris, France
New York, New York, USA
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA - Occupations
- children's book illustrator and author
- Relationships
- Rey, Margret (wife)
- 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.
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 267
- Also by
- 67
- Members
- 57,377
- Popularity
- #255
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 443
- ISBNs
- 1,320
- Languages
- 16
- Favorited
- 8
Awards: No