A Very Curious Tale

Curious George

The premise: a cute, inquisitive monkey gets into mischief and must be saved by a man with an affinity for the color yellow. I am describing an average plot of a Curious George book, whose delightful tales and illustrations have entertained multiple generations and have been translated in many languages, including French, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Chinese, Afrikaans, and Japanese. The books have inspired a television series as well as a full length feature film. However, underneath the bright colors and smiles is a history of two dedicated artists who had to flee for their lives.

The illustrator, Hans Augusto Rey, was born on September 16, 1898 in Hamburg, Germany. His childhood home was near the world-famous Hagenbeck Zoo, where he was first inspired to draw animals. Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein (known later as Margret Rey) was the writer out of the duo, and she was born in Hamburg on May 16, 1906. The two met in passing as children before she left to study art. Their paths crossed again in 1935 in Rio de Janiero, where Hans was working with his family business of selling bathtubs and Margret was living after leaving the political instability of Germany. They married in Brazil on August 16, 1935 and moved to Paris, France. They then began to create children’s books, which started with a story of a giraffe and a family of monkeys called Raffy and the Nine Monkeys. One member of this primate clan was a tiny monkey called Fifi, who would later be renamed Curious George. Hans and Margret began writing a book dedicated to him when their lives turned a drastic page.

Illustration of thier escape

By the late 1930s and early 1940s, Europe was experiencing a very dark period as Hitler and his Nazi party began to take over. Both Hans and Margret were Jewish, and they knew they needed to escape Paris before the Nazis invaded. Hans was able to create two bicycles, which they used to flee just hours before Hitler’s army arrived, and continued to ride for four gruesome days all the way to the French-Spanish border. During their journey, they were forced to hide in an abandoned house, which the Nazis raided and left after finding early drawings of Curious George. The couple soon after was able to travel by boat to New York City in 1941, where they began publishing Curious George as well as other adventures of George, a dachshund named Pretzel, and a bunny called Spotty. Even with a wide variety of characters, George remained the favorite and is now one of the most well known figures of children’s literature.

Hans and Margret at a book signing

Unfortunately, Hans passed away in 1977 and Margret in 1996. Fortunately, their fame lives on. The Curious George Foundation, formed in 1989, provides financial support to children like George who are determined and curious to learn more. The foundation funds family counseling and peer support groups as well as programs against animal cruelty and abuse. And of course, children are continually inspired by their books. Many children, even including the fictitious Forrest Gump, have loved to read and re-read tales of Curious George. This is exactly what the creators wanted as Margret said, “George can do what kids can’t do. He can paint a room from the inside. He can hang from a kite in the sky. He can let the animals out of their pens on the farm. He can do all these naughty things that kids would like to do.”

If you would like to read more about Hans and Margret Rey, visit http://bit.ly/wNjGLH and http://bit.ly/aKQSbC. If you’ve been inspired by our furry friend and decide to be more adventurous, travel to the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, MS where they are housing a Curious George exhibit until July 22^nd. If you want more Promising Pages blogs, follow us and stay tuned for next week!    

--Faith Lippard, Promising Pages Blogger