Ruth Krauss

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Ruth Krauss (born July 25, 1901 in Baltimore , † July 10, 1993 in Westport , CT ) was an American children's author. Her best-known works include the children's books The Carrot Seed and A Hole Is to Dig .

Life

Ruth Krauss attended the Peabody Institute of Music in her hometown of Baltimore, and then studied at the Parsons School in New York, where she received her BA . In the early 1940s, Krauss was a member of the experimental Writer's Laboratory at Bank Street College of Education , which Margaret Wise Brown attended. College founder Lucy Sprague Mitchell advocated a here-and-now philosophy of child development, according to which children live in the here and now and use their surroundings as a laboratory. Krauss embraced this philosophy and also adopted the method of direct observation by listening to and watching children and including their thoughts directly in their books. To do this, Krauss also used Arnold Gesell's language acquisition theories , which are expressed, for example, directly in A Hole is to Dig , in which Krauss asked children for their explanations for words, and then put together an unfiltered book with explanations such as: Dogs are to kiss people or A lap is so you don't get crumbs on the floor. Her first book was published in 1944 and was illustrated by the abstract painter Ad Reinhardt . Over the next forty years she wrote 34 other children's books, many of which were illustrated by her husband, Crockett Johnson . Eight of her books were illustrated by Maurice Sendak . The first book of their collaboration - A Hole Is to Dig from 1952 - is considered a breakthrough for Sendak, who viewed her as a mentor. Krauss is considered to be the pioneer of children's books with minimal but precise text that, instead of didactics and morals, is aimed at the child's imagination. In addition to her children's books, Krauss also wrote plays and poems for adults. Her books The Happy Day (1950) and A Very Special House (1954) were awarded the Caldecott Honor Book .

Works (selection)

  • A Good Man and His Good Wife , illustrated by Ad Reinhardt. (1944); re-illustrated by Marc Simont . 1962.
  • The Carrot Seed illustrated by Crockett Johnson. 1945.
  • Bears , illustrated by Phyllis Rowand (1948); re-illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 2005.
  • The Happy Day , illustrated by Marc Simont. 1949.
  • A Hole is to Dig: A First Book of First Definitions , illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 1952.
  • A Very Special House , illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 1953
  • I'll Be You and You Be Me , illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 1954.
  • How To Make An Earthquake , illustrated by Crockett Johnson. 1954.
  • Charlotte and the White Horse , illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 1955.
  • Is This You? , illustrated by Crockett Johnson. 1955.
  • I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue , illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 1956.
  • The Happy Egg , illustrated by Crockett Johnson. 1967.
  • The Birthday Party , illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 1957.
  • Somebody Else's Nut Tree, and Other Tales from Children , illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 1958.
  • Open House for Butterflies , illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 1960.
  • Big and Little , illustrated by Mary Szilagyi. 1987.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ruth Krauss, 91, Dies; A Writer for Children . In: New York Times, July 15, 1993.
  2. ↑ Sheila M. Geraty: Krauss, Ruth . In: Anita Silvey (Ed.): Children's books and their creators . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995, ISBN 0395653800 , pp. 379-380.
personal data
SURNAME Krauss, Ruth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American children's author
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Baltimore
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 1993
Place of death Westport , CT