Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss

How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, Biography & Memoir, Literary, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss by Philip Nel, University Press of Mississippi
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Philip Nel ISBN: 9781617036255
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi Publication: July 30, 2012
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi Language: English
Author: Philip Nel
ISBN: 9781617036255
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication: July 30, 2012
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi
Language: English

Crockett Johnson (born David Johnson Leisk, 1906-1975) and Ruth Krauss (1901-1993) were a husband-and-wife team that created such popular children's books as The Carrot Seed and How to Make an Earthquake. Separately, Johnson created the enduring children's classic Harold and the Purple Crayon and the groundbreaking comic strip Barnaby. Krauss wrote over a dozen children's books illustrated by others, and pioneered the use of spontaneous, loose-tongued kids in children's literature. Together, Johnson and Krauss's style--whimsical writing, clear and minimalist drawing, and a child's point-of-view--is among the most revered and influential in children's literature and cartooning, inspiring the work of Maurice Sendak, Charles M. Schulz, Chris Van Allsburg, and Jon Scieszka.


This critical biography examines their lives and careers, including their separate achievements when not collaborating. Using correspondence, sketches, contemporary newspaper and magazine accounts, archived and personal interviews, author Philip Nel draws a compelling portrait of a couple whose output encompassed children's literature, comics, graphic design, and the fine arts. Their mentorship of now-famous illustrator Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) is examined at length, as is the couple's appeal to adult contemporaries such as Duke Ellington and Dorothy Parker. Defiantly leftist in an era of McCarthyism and Cold War paranoia, Johnson and Krauss risked collaborations that often contained subtly rendered liberal themes. Indeed, they were under FBI surveillance for years. Their legacy of considerable success invites readers to dream and to imagine, drawing paths that take them anywhere they want to go.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Crockett Johnson (born David Johnson Leisk, 1906-1975) and Ruth Krauss (1901-1993) were a husband-and-wife team that created such popular children's books as The Carrot Seed and How to Make an Earthquake. Separately, Johnson created the enduring children's classic Harold and the Purple Crayon and the groundbreaking comic strip Barnaby. Krauss wrote over a dozen children's books illustrated by others, and pioneered the use of spontaneous, loose-tongued kids in children's literature. Together, Johnson and Krauss's style--whimsical writing, clear and minimalist drawing, and a child's point-of-view--is among the most revered and influential in children's literature and cartooning, inspiring the work of Maurice Sendak, Charles M. Schulz, Chris Van Allsburg, and Jon Scieszka.


This critical biography examines their lives and careers, including their separate achievements when not collaborating. Using correspondence, sketches, contemporary newspaper and magazine accounts, archived and personal interviews, author Philip Nel draws a compelling portrait of a couple whose output encompassed children's literature, comics, graphic design, and the fine arts. Their mentorship of now-famous illustrator Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) is examined at length, as is the couple's appeal to adult contemporaries such as Duke Ellington and Dorothy Parker. Defiantly leftist in an era of McCarthyism and Cold War paranoia, Johnson and Krauss risked collaborations that often contained subtly rendered liberal themes. Indeed, they were under FBI surveillance for years. Their legacy of considerable success invites readers to dream and to imagine, drawing paths that take them anywhere they want to go.

More books from University Press of Mississippi

Cover of the book Time in Television Narrative by Philip Nel
Cover of the book At Home Inside by Philip Nel
Cover of the book Carter G. Woodson by Philip Nel
Cover of the book Global Pop, Local Language by Philip Nel
Cover of the book Comics and Adaptation by Philip Nel
Cover of the book Faulkner and Money by Philip Nel
Cover of the book Projections of Passing by Philip Nel
Cover of the book City of Remembering by Philip Nel
Cover of the book Faulkner and the Ecology of the South by Philip Nel
Cover of the book The Comics of Julie Doucet and Gabrielle Bell by Philip Nel
Cover of the book The Light in the Piazza and Other Italian Tales by Philip Nel
Cover of the book Faulkner and Race by Philip Nel
Cover of the book Wiregrass Country by Philip Nel
Cover of the book The Pilgrim Jubilees by Philip Nel
Cover of the book The Architecture of William Nichols by Philip Nel
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy