Ruth Ida Krauss (July 25, 1901 – July 10, 1993) was an American writer of

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

, including '' The Carrot Seed'', and of theatrical poems for adult readers. Many of her books are still in print.

Early life and education

Ruth Krauss was born July 25, 1901, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

to Julius Leopold and Blanche Krauss. As a child, Ruth had numerous health problems, including the rare autoimmune disorder

pemphigus Pemphigus ( or ) is a rare group of blistering autoimmune diseases that affect the skin and mucous membranes. The name is derived from the Greek root ''pemphix'', meaning "pustule". In pemphigus, autoantibodies form against desmoglein, whi ...

. She began writing and illustrating her own stories while still a child, hand sewing her pages into books. Ruth went to a local high school but left in 1917 after her sophomore year to focus on the study of art. She enrolled in the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts (now known as the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the U ...

). The school's focus on applied arts did not suit her and she left after about a year. Her next stop was a girls camp, Camp Walden in Maine, where she discovered her love for writing; the camp yearbook for 1919 contains her first published piece of writing. After the camp, she spent some time studying violin in the Peabody Institute of Music's preparatory program. She was considered a gifted but undisciplined musician by her teachers. Ruth's father died in late 1921, requiring Ruth to drop out of school. She took a series of office jobs. In 1927, she decided to enroll at the

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

in New York. Graduating from Parsons in 1929, as the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

was beginning, she found it difficult to get work as an illustrator. Among the work she did find in this period was the first pictorial book jacket for the Modern Library (''Alice in Wonderland'', 1932). Ruth was a member of the Writers' Laboratory at the

Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 full ...

in New York during the 1940s. In the 1930s, Ruth was married to journalist and crime novelist

Lionel White Lionel White (9 July 1905 – 26 December 1985) was an American journalist and crime novelist, several of whose dark, noirish stories were made into films. His books include ''The Snatchers'' (made into a film as ''The Night of the Follow ...

; they divorced shortly before World War II.

Personal life and career

Ruth Krauss married children's book author

Crockett Johnson Crockett Johnson (October 20, 1906 – July 11, 1975) was the pen name of the American cartoonist and children's book illustrator David Johnson Leisk. He is best known for the comic strip ''Barnaby'' (1942–1952) and the ''Harold'' series of book ...

in 1943. They collaborated on many books, among them '' The Carrot Seed'', ''How to Make an Earthquake'', ''Is This You?'' and ''The Happy Egg''. Another eight of her books were illustrated by

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book ''Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 200 ...

, starting with ''A Hole Is to Dig'' (1952), which launched Sendak's career. The Krauss-Sendak collaborations spawned a host of imitators of their "unruly" and "rebellious" child protagonists. The peculiar definitional phrasing of Krauss's writing in this book—with sentences like "A party is to make little children happy"—became something of a cultural phenomenon when the book was first published and has helped to maintain its popularity. Krauss also illustrated a few of her own books. In addition to her books for children, Krauss wrote three collections of poetry and plays in verse for adults.

Recognition

Two books that Krauss wrote were runners-up for the prestigious

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

, which is awarded to children's book illustrators: ''The Happy Day'' (1950) and ''A Very Special House'' (1954). Maurice Sendak characterized Krauss as a giant in the world of children's literature, saying: "Ruth broke rules and invented new ones, and her respect for the natural ferocity of children bloomed in to poetry that was utterly faithful to what was true in their lives". He honored her in the ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * ''The New ...

'' cover illustration for Sept. 27, 1993, which shows a homeless boy using Krauss's book ''A Hole Is to Dig'' as a pillow and another child holding ''I Can Fly'' as they sleep.

Books

Children's books

* ''A Good Man and His Good Wife'', illustrated by

Ad Reinhardt Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was an abstract painter active in New York for more than three decades. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists (AAA) and part of the movement centere ...

(1944); re-illustrated by

Marc Simont Marc Simont (November 23, 1915 – July 13, 2013) was a Paris-born American artist, political cartoonist, and illustrator of more than a hundred children's books. Inspired by his father, Spanish painter Joseph Simont, he began drawing at an early ...

(1962) * '' The Carrot Seed'', illus.

(1945) * ''The Great Duffy'', illus.

Mischa Richter Mischa Richter (1910 – March 23, 2001) was an American cartoonist best known for his numerous cartoons published in ''The New Yorker'' over decades. Early life Richter was born in Kharkov, Russian Empire, where his father was the city's C ...

(1946) * ''The Growing Story'', illus. Phyllis Rowand (1947) * ''Bears'', illus. Rowand (1948); re-illus.

(2005) * ''The Happy Day'', illus.

(1949) —a

Honor Book for Simont * ''The Big World and the Little House'', illus. Simont (1949). * ''The Backward Day'', illus. Simont (1950) * ''I Can Fly'', illus.

Mary Blair Mary Blair (born Mary Browne Robinson; October 21, 1911 – July 26, 1978) was an American people, American artist, animator, and designer. She was prominent in producing art and animation for The Walt Disney Company, drawing concept art for s ...

(1950) * ''The Bundle Book'', illus. Helen Stone (1951) * ''A Hole is to Dig: A First Book of First Definitions'', illus. Sendak (1952) * '' A Very Special House'', illus. Sendak (1953) —a

Honor Book for Sendak * ''I'll Be You and You Be Me'', illus. Sendak (1954) * ''How To Make An Earthquake'', illus. Johnson (1954) * ''Charlotte and the White Horse'', illus. Sendak (1955) * ''Is This You?'', by Krauss and Johnson (1955) * ''I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue'', illus. Sendak (1956) * ''Monkey Day'', illus. Phyllis Rowand (1957) * ''The Birthday Party'', illus. Sendak (1957) * ''Somebody Else's Nut Tree, and Other Tales from Children'', illus. Sendak (1958) * ''A Moon or a Button: A Collection of First Picture Ideas'', illus.

Remy Charlip Remy or Rémy may refer to: Places * Remy River, a tributary of rivière du Gouffre in Saint-Urbain, Quebec, Canada * Rémy, a French commune in Pas-de-Calais * Remy, Oise, northern France * Remy, Oklahoma, USA * 14683 Remy, an asteroid * Pon ...

(1959 * ''Open House for Butterflies'', illus. Sendak (1960) * ''Mama, I Wish I Was Snow; Child You'd Be Very Cold'', illus.

Ellen Raskin Ellen Raskin (March 13, 1928 – August 8, 1984) was an American children's writer and illustrator. She won the 1979 Newbery Medal for ''The Westing Game'', a mystery novel, and another children's mystery, '' Figgs & Phantoms'', was a Newbery ...

(1962) * ''A Bouquet of Littles'', illus. Jane Flora (1963 * ''Eyes, Nose, Fingers, Toes'', illus. Elizabeth Schneider (1964) * ''What a Fine Day for ...'', illus. Remy Charlip, music by

Al Carmines Reverend Alvin Allison "Al" Carmines, Jr. (July 25, 1936 – August 9, 2005) was a key figure in the expansion of Off-Off-Broadway theatre in the 1960s. Carmines was born in Hampton, Virginia. Although his musical talent appeared early, he de ...

(1967) * ''The Happy Egg'', illus. Johnson (1967) * ''This Thumbprint: Words and Thumbprints'' (1967) * ''The Little King, the Little Queen, the Little Monster and Other Stories You Can Make Up Yourself'' (1968) * ''If Only'' (1969) * ''I Write It'', illus. Mary Chalmers (1970) * ''Under Twenty'' (1970) * ''Everything Under a Mushroom'', illus. Margot Tomes (1973) * ''Love and the Invention of Punctuation'' (1973) * ''Little Boat Lighter Than a Cork'', illus. Esther Gilman (1976) * ''Under Thirteen'' (1976) * ''When I Walk I Change the Earth'' (1978) * ''Somebody Spilled the Sky'', illus. Eleanor Hazard (1979) * ''Minnestrone'' (1981) * ''Re-examination of Freedom'' (1981) * ''Love Poems for Children'' (1986) * ''Big and Little'', illus. Mary Szilagyi (1987) * ''And I Love You'', illus. Steven Kellogg (1987)

Poetry and verse plays

* ''There's A Little Ambiguity Among the Bluebells and Other Theater Poems'' (1968) * ''The Cantilever Rainbow'', illus.

Antonio Frasconi Antonio Frasconi (28 April 1919 in Montevideo, Uruguay – 8 January 2013 in Norwalk, CT, USA) was an Uruguayan - American visual artist, best known for his woodcuts. He was raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, and lived in the United States since ...

(1965) * ''This Breast Gothic'' (1973)

References

External links

Ruth Krauss papers
at the University of Connecticut Libraries
Ruth Krauss
at

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Authorities – with 63 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Krauss, Ruth 1901 births 1993 deaths American children's writers American women poets Writers from Baltimore 20th-century American poets American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers