What Do People Do All Day?

About Richard Scarry

Richard McClure Scarry (June 5, 1919 - April 30, 1994), last name pronounced like "scary", was an enormously popular children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of 300 million worldwide.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, where his parents ran a shop. The Scarry family enjoyed a comfortable life even during the time of the Great Depression. Following high school graduation, Scarry enrolled in a business college but soon dropped out, finding it not to his liking. He then studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he remained until being drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II.

Scarry's characters are almost always anthropomorphic animals. Occasionally this leads to the irony of portraying animals as farmers, tending livestock, including the infamous example of a pig portrayed as a butcher, selling ham and frankfurters behind a counter. Using animals in place of humans allowed Scarry to avoid giving the characters specific racial or ethnic traits, which may have helped broaden their appeal. His books have been popular with children throughout the world.