Clement Gazzam Hurd (January 12, 1908 – February 5, 1988) was an American artist. He is known for illustrations of

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

, especially collaborations with writer

Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, including ''Goodnight Moon'' and ''The Runaway Bunny'', both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the nursery" for ...

including ''

Goodnight Moon ''Goodnight Moon'' is an American children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It was published on September 3, 1947, and is a highly acclaimed bedtime story. This book is the second in Brown and Hurd's "cla ...

'' (1947) and ''

The Runaway Bunny ''The Runaway Bunny'' is a 1942 picture book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. The plot deals with a small rabbit, who wants to run away. His mother, however, tells him that "if you run away, I will run after you." T ...

'' (1942).

Biography

Early life

Hurd was born in New York City to

Richard Melancthon Hurd Richard Melancthon Hurd (June 14, 1865 – June 6, 1941) was a pioneer real estate economist and political activist. Hurd was born in New York City and attended St. Paul's School. He graduated from Yale University in 1888, where he was a memb ...

, an economist and mortgage banker, and Lucy Gazzam Hurd. He was educated at St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

, then studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and painting with

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

in Paris.

Career

Hurd returned to New York in 1933 to work as a commercial artist. There

was an editor at

W. R. Scott W. R. Scott was a children's literature publisher based in New York City that specialized in visually striking books with a contemporary educational philosophy. W. R. Scott's first editor was Margaret Wise Brown; the company also published a nu ...

, as well as a writer of picture book texts. On seeing two of his paintings, she asked him if he would consider illustrating children's books. She wrote a text herself, for what became ''Bumble Bugs and Elephants'' (1938) —"perhaps the first modern board book for babies." Hurd's next collaboration with Brown, ''

'', has been in print continuously since its 1942 publication. Their next book, ''

'' (1947), is considered classic children's literature in North America; by 1990, the total number of copies sold was more than 4 million. In 2007, the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...

listed ''Goodnight Moon'' as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". In 2012 it was ranked number four among the "Top 100 Picture Books" in a survey published by ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

''. Hurd also illustrated over fifty books written by his wife

Edith Thacher Hurd Edith Thacher Hurd (September 14, 1910 – January 25, 1997) was an American writer of children's books. She published 70 books in her lifetime,Saxon, Wolfgang''The New York Times'' (July 25, 1997). fifty of them illustrated by her husband, Cleme ...

(a friend of Brown's) as well as a children's book written by

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

, '' The World Is Round''. Hurd wrote and illustrated the book ''Run, Run, Run''. Hurd died of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

at a San Francisco hospital in 1988.

Personal life

His son

Thacher Hurd John Thacher Hurd (born March 6, 1949) is an American artist and the creator of children's picture books including ''Mama Don't Allow'' and ''Art Dog''. Biography Thacher Hurd was born in Burlington, Vermont, the son of children's book creato ...

is also a children's book author and illustrator, and referred in an interview to the "wonderful aura of creativity" surrounding his father and the Vermont farm that was their home.

Legacy

A doctored/altered photo of Hurd was included in the 60th anniversary republication of ''Goodnight Moon'' with a cigarette removed from his hand, an incident of

tobacco bowdlerization Tobacco bowdlerization occurs when a publisher or government agency expurgates a photograph, text, or video document to remove images and references to consuming tobacco products. It often occurs in conjunction with traditional restrictions on toba ...

that caused controversy over publication standards. Hurd's work, as well as that of his wife and son, were featured at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center in the 2004 exhibition "From ''Goodnight Moon'' to ''Art Dog'': The World of Clement, Edith and Thatcher Hurd."

Selected works

* ''The World Is Round'' (New York: W. R. Scott, 1939), words by

, * ''The Merry Chase'' (Random House, 1941) *''The Race Between the Monkey and the Duck'' (Wonder Books, 1946) * ''Run Run Run: Story of Black Cat and Dog'' (Harper, 1951), *

** ''Bumble Bugs and Elephants'' (W. R. Scott, 1938) ** ''

'' (Harper, 1942) ** ''

'' (Harper, 1947) ** '' My World'' (Harper, 1949), Brown – a ''Goodnight Moon'' book ** ''Good-night Moon Room'' (Harper, 1984) — pop-up book version ** ''Goodnight Moon's 123: A Counting Book'' (HarperCollins, 2007) ** ''Goodnight Moon's ABC: An Alphabet Book'' (HarperCollins, 2010) *

** ''Benny the Bulldozer'' (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., 1947) ** ''Little Brass Band'' (Harper, 1955) ** ''Windy and the Willow Whistle'' (Sterling, 1956) ** ''Mr. Charlie, the Fireman's Friend'' (Lippincott, 1958) ** ''Last One Home is a Green Pig'' (Harper, 1959) ** ''Hurry Hurry'' (Harper, 1960) ** ''Come and Have Fun'' (Harper, 1962) ** ''Christmas Eve'' (Harper, 1962) ** ''No Funny Business'' (Harper, 1962) ** ''The Day the Sun Danced'' (Harper, 1965) ** ''Johnny Lion's Book'' (Harper, 1965) ** ''What Whale? Where?'' (Harper, 1966) ** ''The Blue Heron Tree'' (Viking, 1968) ** ''This is the Forest'' (Coward-McCann, 1969) ** ''Catfish'' (Viking, 1970) ** ''Johnny Lion's Bad Day'' (Harper, 1970) ** ''Wilson's World'' (Harper, 1971) ** ''Johnny Lion's Rubber Boots'' (Harper, 1972) ** ''The Mother Owl'' (Little, Brown, 1974) ** ''The Mother Kangaroo'' (Little, Brown, 1976) ** ''Look for a Bird'' (Harper, 1977) ** ''The Mother Chimpanzee'' (Little, Brown, 1978) ** ''Under the Lemon Tree'' (Little, Brown, 1980)

References

External links

Clement Hurd Papers
at Children's Literature Research Collection, University of Minnesota * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurd, Clement 1908 births 1988 deaths American children's book illustrators St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in California Yale University alumni Writers from New York City Writers from Vermont