W. R. Scott was a children's literature publisher based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

that specialized in visually striking books with a contemporary educational philosophy. W. R. Scott's first editor was

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 ...

; the company also published a number of her books.

History

The company was founded in 1938 by William Rufus Scott (1911–1997),Saxon, Wolfgang
"William Rufus Scott, 86, Pioneer In Children's Book Publishing,"
''New York Times'' (July 25, 1997). who was assisted by his wife Ethel McCullough Scott, and her brother, John C. McCullough. With small children of their own, the Scotts had connections to the

Bureau of Educational Experiments 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 ...

(later known as 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 ...

), which was promoting a new approach to children's education and literature, emphasizing the real world and the "here and now."Fernando, Anne E
"IN THE GREAT GREEN ROOM: MARGARET WISE BROWN AND MODERNISM,"
''Public Books'' (November 17, 2015). Accessed May 2, 2016. In keeping with the Bank Street philosophy," W. R. Scott's initial list included art books for the very young, poetry, essays, and reissues. The Scotts' link to Bank Street led them to

, who worked at the Bank Street Experimental School and had just published her first children's book. Brown was hired as the company's first editor, and one of her first projects was to recruit contemporary authors to write children's books for the company.

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

and

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

neglected to respond, but Brown's hero

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 ...

accepted the offer. Stein's book ''The World is Round'',Popova, Maria
"7 (More) Obscure Children’s Books by Famous “Adult” Lit Authors,"
''BrainPickings'' (July 25, 2011). was illustrated by

Clement Hurd Clement Gazzam Hurd (January 12, 1908 – February 5, 1988) was an American artist. He is known for illustrations of children's picture books, especially collaborations with writer Margaret Wise Brown including ''Goodnight Moon'' (1947) and ''The ...

, who had previously teamed with Brown on W. R. Scott's ''Bumble Bugs and Elephants'', considered "perhaps the first modern board book for babies."Leonard S. Marcus (1997)
"Meet Clement Hurd"
''Enter the World of Margaret Wise Brown''. HarperCollins Children's. Retrieved 2014-10-01. Apparently citing Marcus's book, ''Dear Genius, The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom''. (Brown and Hurd later teamed on the children's book classics ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', though they were released by a different publisher.) In addition to publishing a number of her own books, under Brown's editorship W. R. Scott published

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 ...

's first book, ''Hurry Hurry'', and

Esphyr Slobodkina Esphyr Slobodkina (russian: Эсфирь Соломоновна Слободкина; September 22, 1908 – July 21, 2002) was a Russian Empire-born American artist, author, and illustrator, best known for her classic children's picture book ''Ca ...

's classic ''

Caps for Sale ''Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business'' is a children's picture book, written and illustrated by Esphyr Slobodkina and published by W. R. Scott in 1940. Summary Based on a folktale, the story follows a must ...

''. In the 1960s most of the publisher's titles were released under the Young Scott Books imprint. W. R. Scott was acquired by

Addison-Wesley Addison-Wesley is an American publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson PLC, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison-Wesley also distributes its technical titles through ...

c. 1972. Most of W. R. Scott's titles went out of print, though some were re-issued by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

and Shoe String Press's imprint Linnet.

Selected titles

Margaret Wise Brown

* ''Bumble Bugs and Elephants: a Big and Little Book'', illus.

(1938) * ''The Little Fireman'', illus.

(1938) * ''The Noisy Book'', illus.

Leonard Weisgard Leonard Joseph Weisgard (December 13, 1916 – January 14, 2000) was an American writer and illustrator of more than 200 children's books. He is known best for his collaborations with writer Margaret Wise Brown. Biography Weisgard was bo ...

(1939) * ''The Country Noisy Book'', illus. Leonard Weisgard (1940) * ''The Seashore Noisy Book'', illus. Leonard Weisgard (1941) * ''The Indoor Noisy Book'', illus. Leonard Weisgard (1942) * ''The Winter Noisy Book'', illus.

Charles Green Shaw Charles Green Shaw (May 1, 1892 – April 2, 1974) was an American painter, poet, writer, and illustrator. He was a key figure in early American abstract art. Shaw's paintings are part of most major collections of American Art, including the ...

(1947) * '' A Child's Good Night Book '', illus.

Jean Charlot Louis Henri Jean Charlot (February 8, 1898 – March 20, 1979) was a French people, French-born United States, American Painting, painter and illustrator, active mainly in Mexico and the United States. Life Charlot was born in Paris. His father, ...

(1944) * ''The Little Fisherman'', illus.

Dahlov Ipcar Dahlov Ipcar (née Zorach; November 12, 1917 – February 10, 2017) was an American painter, illustrator and author. She was best known for her colorful, kaleidoscopic-styled paintings featuring animals – primarily in either farm or wild settin ...

(1945) * ''The Man in the Manhole and the Fix-It Men'', illus. Bill Ballantine (1946), written by Brown and

as "Juniper Sage", * ''The Little Cowboy'', illus. Esphyr Slobodkina (1948) * ''The Little Farmer'', illus. Esphyr Slobodkina (1948) * ''A Child's Good Morning Book'', illus.

(1952) * ''Willie's Adventures: Three Stories'', illus.

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 ...

(1954) * ''Nibble Nibble: Poems for Children'', illus. Leonard Weisgard (1959)

Other authors

* Alain. ''One, Two, Three, Going to Sea: an Adding and Subtracting Book'' (1975) * Brenner, Barbara. ''A Snake-Lover's Diary'' (1970) * Garelick, May (May McClintock). ''Where Does the Butterfly Go When It Rains?'' (1961)'' * Hurd, Edith Thacher. ''Hurry Hurry'', illus. Mary Pepperrell Dana (1938) * Iger, Eve Marie. ''

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

: His Soul Goes Marching On'' (1969) * Joslin, Sesyle. ''What Do You Say, Dear?'', illus.

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 ...

(1958) * Lear, Edward. ''The Dong with a Luminous Nose'', illus.

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an Americans, American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other w ...

(1969) * Merrill, Jean. ** ''Shan's Lucky Knife: A Burmese Folk Tale'' (1960) ** ''The Superlative Horse: A Tale of Ancient China'' (1961) ** ''

The Pushcart War ''The Pushcart War'' is a popular children's novel by the American writer Jean Merrill, illustrated by Ronni Solbert and first published by W. R. Scott in 1964. It is Merrill's best known work. The story is written in the style of a historical ...

'' (1964) * Oppenheim, Joanne. ''Have You Seen Trees?'', illus. Irwin Rosenhouse (1967) * Rees, Ennis. ''Brer Rabbit and His Tricks'' (1967) * Slobodkina, Esphyr. ''

'' (1940) * Stein, Gertrude. '' The World Is Round'', illus.

(1939) OCLC 10175454

References

{{Portal , Children's literature

External links

* William R. Scott, Inc. Records. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Children's book publishers Companies based in New York City Book publishing companies based in New York (state) 1938 establishments in New York City