John Robert McCloskey (September 15, 1914 – June 30, 2003) was an American writer and illustrator of

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

s. He both wrote and illustrated eight

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 ...

, and won two

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 Servic ...

s from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

for the year's best-illustrated picture book. Four of the eight books were set in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

: ''Blueberries for Sal'', ''One Morning in Maine'', ''Time of Wonder'', and ''Burt Dow, Deep-water Man'' (the last three of those four were all set on the coast). His best-known work is ''

Make Way For Ducklings ''Make Way for Ducklings'' is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941 by the Viking Press, the book tells the story of a pair of mallards who raise their brood of ducklings on an island in t ...

'', set in Boston. In longer works, he both wrote and illustrated '' Homer Price'' and he illustrated Keith Robertson's '' Henry Reed'' series.

Personal life

McCloskey was born in Hamilton, Ohio, on September 15, 1914 to Howard and Mabel McCloskey. He had two sisters, Melba and Dorothy. As a teen, McCloskey was a camper-turned-counselor at Camp Campbell Gard, where at age 16 he carved a totem pole which stood at the camp for over 50 years. His work on the totem pole is said to have led to him being chosen to create the bas relief and cast aluminum pieces decorating the Hamilton Municipal building in 1934, when he was 19. He reached Boston in 1932 with a scholarship to study at Vesper George Art School. After Vesper George, he moved to New York City for study at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

. In 1940, he married Peggy Durand, daughter of the children's writer

Ruth Sawyer Ruth Sawyer (August 5, 1880 – June 3, 1970) was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She may be best known as the author of ''Roller Skates'', which won the 1937 Newbery Medal. She received th ...

. They had two daughters, Sally and Jane, and settled in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, spending summers on Scott Island, a small island off Little Deer Isle in East Penobscot Bay. McCloskey's wife and elder daughter Sally are the models for little Sal and her mother in '' Blueberries for Sal'' (1948), a picture book set on a "Blueberry Hill" in the vicinity. Three others of his picture books are set on the coast and concern the sea. Peggy died in 1991. Twelve years later on June 30, 2003, McCloskey died in

Deer Isle, Maine Deer Isle is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,194 at the 2020 census. Notable landmarks in Deer Isle are the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Stonington Opera House, and the town's many art galleries. ...

Recognition

McCloskey won the 1942

for ''

Make Way for Ducklings ''Make Way for Ducklings'' is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941 by the Viking Press, the book tells the story of a pair of mallards who raise their brood of ducklings on an island in t ...

''. The story, set in Boston, Massachusetts, features a mallard pair that nests on an island in the

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

. After raising eight ducklings on the island, the mother leads them to the Public Garden downtown. A friendly policeman stops traffic to let them cross a busy street. The story soon became a Boston institution. Sculptor

Nancy Schön Nancy Schön (born 1928) is a sculptor of public art displayed internationally. She is best known for her work in the Boston, Massachusetts area, notably her bronze duck and ducklings in the Boston Public Garden, a recreation of the duck famil ...

created a bronze statue of Mrs. Mallard and the ducklings in 1987, installed along a walkway between pond and street. There thousands of children climb them every year and many more people photograph them; the park is also the annual site of a ''Make Way for Ducklings''

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in th ...

parade, featuring hundreds of children dressed in the costumes of their favorite characters. Since 2003 ''Make Way for Ducklings'' is the official children's book of Massachusetts. McCloskey won a second Caldecott Medal in 1958 for '' Time of Wonder''. Meanwhile, he had been a runner-up in 1949 for '' Blueberries for Sal'', in 1953 for '' One Morning in Maine'', and in 1954 for ''JourneyCake, Ho!'', the latter written by his mother-in-law Sawyer. In a 1958 magazine article titled "Bob McCloskey, Inventor", another Medal winner Marc Simont observed that " istalent for devising mechanical contraptions is topped only by his ability to turn out books that carry off the Caldecott Medal." The Homer Price stories (two books) were translated into

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

in the 1970s and became popular in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The U.S.

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 ...

named McCloskey a "Living Legend" in 2000.

Films

One chapter from '' Homer Price'' was

adapted In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

as a short film, ''The Doughnuts'' (1963). The same chapter was adapted for an ''

ABC Weekend Special ''ABC Weekend Special'' is a weekly 30-minute American television anthology series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated. Similar to b ...

'' called "Homer and the Wacky Doughnut Machine" (1977). Another chapter, "The Case of the Cosmic Comic", was also adapted as a short film. In 1964, film producer Morton Schindel and Weston Woods Studios made ''Robert McCloskey'', an 18-minute documentary that is sometimes screened in art schools. It shows McCloskey sitting in Boston Public Garden intercut with pages from his sketchbook drawings for ''Make Way for Ducklings'', while the illustrator recounts experiences that influenced his work and discusses the relationship of craftsmanship to inspiration.

Public art

* Totem Pole (summer 1931), now housed in the Hamilton, Ohio Municipal Building museum — McCloskey carved the

totem pole Totem poles ( hai, gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually ...

while a counselor at Camp Campbell Gard where it stood for over 50 years * Sculpture (completed 1935), Hamilton, Ohio Municipal Building — McCloskey created models for relief bias. * Murals (1939), including six formerly housed in the Sloan Building (E52) on the

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

campus — McCloskey assisted Francis Scott Bradford depicting Beacon Hill socialites in large murals commissioned by the

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

Derivative art

Boston Public Garden The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston Common. It is a part of the Emerald Necklace system of parks, and is bounded by Charles Street and Boston Common to ...

a sculpture of a family of nine ducks, by the sculptor

, installed in 1987, commemorates McCloskey's ''Make Way for Ducklings.'' A version was installed in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

in 1991. In Hamilton, Ohio, McCloskey's hometown, another sculpture by Schön, installed in 2002, depicts a boy and dog from McCloskey's first book, ''Lentil'', published in 1940. McCloskey named the boy Lentil, but in a competition among schoolchildren the dog was given the name Harmony. In Boothbay Harbor, Maine, in the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, another sculpture by Schön, dedicated in 2010 and known as ''Sal's Bear'', depicts a baby bear and a nearby spilled pail of blueberries, based on the drawings in McCloskey's ''Blueberries for Sal.''

Books

As author and illustrator

*''Lentil'' (1940) *''

'' (1941),

winner *'' Homer Price'' (1943) *'' Blueberries for Sal'' (1948), a Caldecott Honor Award *'' Centerburg Tales: More Adventures of Homer Price'' (1951); also issued as ''More Homer Price'' *'' One Morning in Maine'' (1952), a Caldecott Honor Award *'' Time of Wonder'' (1957), Caldecott Medal winner *'' Burt Dow, Deep-water Man'' (1963)

As illustrator only

* ''Yankee Doodle's Cousins'' (1941) written by Anne Malcolmson * ''Tree Toad: Adventures of the Kid Brother'' (1942) by Bob Davis, illus. McCloskey and

Charles Dana Gibson Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 – December 23, 1944) was an American illustrator. He was best known for his creation of the Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent Euro-American woman at the turn of the ...

* ''Young America's English Book One'' (1942) by Helen Fern Daringer * '' The Man Who Lost His Head'' (1942) by Claire Huchet Bishop; paperback reissue (1970) * ''Trigger John's Son'' (1949) by Tom Robinson * ''Journey Cake, Ho'' (1953) by

, a Caldecott Honor Book * ''Junket: The Dog Who Liked Everything "Just So"'' (1955) by Anne H. White * ''Henry Reed, Inc.'' (1958), by Keith Robertson * ''Henry Reed's Journey'' (1963), by Robertson * ''Henry Reed's Babysitting Service'' (1966), by Robertson * ''Henry Reed's Big Show'' (1970), by Robertson

Notes

References

External links

"Maine Kennecott Winners by Robert McCloskey"
by Elizabeth Kennedy, children's book guide at About.com
"Robert McCloskey" interviewed by Anita Silvey
Horn Book Radio Review {{DEFAULTSORT:McCloskey, Robert 1914 births 2003 deaths American children's writers Caldecott Medal winners American children's book illustrators Writers from Maine Writers who illustrated their own writing People from Deer Isle, Maine People from Hamilton, Ohio Books by Robert McCloskey