Richard Scarry’s books have been a part of my childhood and went on to be favorites of my children as well.  I think many of you can say the same.  Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy Town is an oversized book full of all the busy happenings around town.  Kids love seeing and reading all the fun things the residents of Busytown are doing.

Welcome to Busytown where everyone is on their way to work. The Busytown grocers stock and sell fresh food; the bankers keep the money safe; the doctors and nurses make sure everyone is healthy; the postal workers collect and deliver letters; the sanitation workers collect trash and recyclables; the lumber workers chop trees to make furniture and houses; and the workers at the docks, railroads and airports help transport people and freight. But it takes even more careers and professions than that to keep this busy town running.

Richard Scarry is one of the world’s best-loved children’s authors EVER! Generations of children all over the world have grown up spending hours poring over his books filled with all the colorful details of their daily lives. No other illustrator has shown such a lively interest in the words and concepts of early childhood. For himself, whenever he was asked how old he was, Scarry would always put up one hand and laugh, saying, “five!”

Born in 1919, Richard Scarry was raised and educated in Boston, Massachusetts. After five years of drawing maps and designing graphics for the U.S. Army, he moved to New York to pursue a career in commercial art. But after showing his portfolio to one of the original editors at Golden Books, he found the perfect home for his children’s books.

The assignments first given to Scarry tended to be Little Golden Books that featured popular characters of the day, such as Winky Dink, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Smokey the Bear. EventuallyScarry created many original characters such as Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat. But first came Nicholas, a young rabbit clad in red overalls, for the now-iconic board book I Am A Bunny. After Scarry married children’s textbook writer Patricia Murphy, she wrote many stories for him as Patsy Scarry, including the bestselling Little Golden Books Good Night, Little Bear and The Bunny Book. In his extraordinary career, Richard Scarry illustrated over 150 books, many of which have never been out of print. His books have sold over 100 million copies around the world, and are currently published in over twenty languages. Richard Scarry, Jr., also an illustrator, carries on his father’s work today under the name of Huck Scarry. Richard Scarry passed away at his home of Gstaad, Switzerland in 1994. He was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Society of Illustrators in 2012.

Random House is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings.  One lucky blog reader will win their own Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy Town!  Thank you Random House for the review copy and for sponsoring this great giveaway on Mommy Ramblings!!!  Open to US residents.

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