Robert McCloskey

For the diplomat, see Robert J. McCloskey.
Robert McCloskey
Born John Robert McCloskey
(1914-09-14)September 14, 1914
Hamilton, Ohio
Died June 30, 2003(2003-06-30) (aged 88)
Deer Isle, Maine, USA
Occupation Writer, illustrator
Nationality American
Alma mater Vesper George Art School[1]
Period 1940–1970
Genre Children's picture books
Notable works
Notable awards Caldecott Medal
1942, 1957
Spouse Margaret Durand
Children Sally, Jane
Relatives Ruth Sawyer (mother-in-law)

John Robert McCloskey (September 14, 1914 – June 30, 2003) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He both wrote and illustrated eight picture books and won two Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association recognizing the year's best-illustrated picture book.[1][2] Four of those eight books were set in Maine: Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, Time of Wonder, and Burt Dow, Deep-water Man; the last three all on the coast. His best-known work is another of the picture books, Make Way For Ducklings, set in Boston. In longer works, he both wrote and illustrated Homer Price and he illustrated Keith Robertson's Henry Reed series.[lower-alpha 1]

Life

McCloskey was born in Hamilton, Ohio, during 1914 and 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.[1]

In 1940, he married Peggy Durand, daughter of the children's writer Ruth Sawyer.[1] They had two daughters, Sally and Jane, and settled in New York State, spending summers on Scott Island, a small island off Little Deer Isle in East Penobscot Bay.[3] McCloskey's wife and eldest daughter Sally are reputed to be 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 at his home in Deer Isle, Maine.

Recognition

McCloskey's book Make Way for Ducklings (1941).

McCloskey won the 1942 Caldecott Medal for Make Way for Ducklings. The story set in Boston, Massachusetts features a mallard pair that nests on an island in the Charles River. After some time raising eight ducklings on the island, the mother leads them to the Public Garden downtown. Famously, a friendly policeman stops traffic for them to cross a busy street. The story soon became a Boston institution. Sculptor Nancy Schön created a bronze version of Mrs. Mallard and the ducklings in 1987, installed along a walkway between pond and street.[4] 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 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.[5]

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.[2] In a 1958 magazine article titled "Bob McCloskey, Inventor", another Medal winner observed that "[his] talent for devising mechanical contraptions is topped only by his ability to turn out books that carry off the Caldecott Medal."[6]

The Homer Price stories (two books) were translated into Russian-language in the 1970s and became popular in the Soviet Union.[7]

Films

One chapter from Homer Price was adapted as a short film, The Doughnuts (1963).[8] The same chapter was adapted for an ABC Weekend Special called "Homer and the Wacky Doughnut Machine" (1977).[9] 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.[10]

In Hamilton, Ohio, McCloskey's hometown, there is a statue depicting a boy and dog from his first book, Lentil, published by Viking Press in 1940. McCloskey named only the boy, Lentil, but the dog is known as Harmony since a competition among schoolchildren.[11]

The U.S. Library of Congress named McCloskey a "Living Legend" in 2000.[12]

Public art

Books

As author and illustrator

As illustrator only

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Henry Reed series. From 1958 to 1986, Keith Robertson wrote five books featuring the boy businessman Henry Reed.
    The Henry Reed books were reissued in 1989(?) paperback editions with ISBN 0-14-034144-7; ISBN 0-14-034145-5; ISBN 0-14-034146-3; ISBN 0-440-43570-6; ISBN 0-440-40104-6.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Blau, Eleanor (2003-07-01). "Robert McCloskey, 88, of 'Make Way for Ducklings,' Is Dead". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  2. 1 2 "Caldecott Medal Winners, 1938 - Present | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)". Ala.org. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  3. ↑ Google Maps: scott island, deer isle. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
  4. ↑ "Make Way for Ducklings, Boston by Nancy Schön". Schon.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  5. ↑ "CIS: State Symbols". Sec.state.ma.us. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  6. ↑ "Bob McCloskey, Inventor - The Horn Book". Hbook.com. 2013-07-18. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  7. ↑ "Роберт Макклоски | Либрусек". Lib.rus.ec. 2011-04-24. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  8. ↑ "The Doughnuts (1963)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  9. ↑ "ABC Weekend Specials: Season 1, Episode 4 : Homer and the Wacky Doughnut Machine". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  10. ↑ "Robert McCloskey Movie Reviews, Information and Film Reviews for Robert McCloskey the Movie". Movierevie.ws. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  11. ↑ "Lentil and His Dog Harmony by Nancy Schön". Schon.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  12. ↑ Archived October 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.

External links


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