Curious George is one of the most beloved children’s book series from the 20th Century. It was co-created by the husband-and-wife team H. A. and Margret Rey.
According to their biography, H. A. was mostly responsible for the ideas and illustrations, while Margret created the story plots and did more of the writing. But Curious George would not exist today if the couple had not escaped the Nazis during World War II.
The Reys were both German Jews and had been living in Paris, France, at the start of the war. When the Nazis invaded Paris, they made a daring and courageous escape on bicycles with their creative works in hand.
H. A. and Margret Rey’s story
H. A. (Hans Augusto Rey) and Margret (born Margarete Elisabeth Waldstein) were both born in Hamburg, Germany. They met in childhood but didn’t begin a relationship until they were both living and working in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1935.
H. A. worked for his family’s bathtub business, and Margret moved there to escape Germany’s political climate and Hitler’s rise to power. Both were artists. Margret studied art at the Bauhaus, and Hans grew up drawing. In Rio de Janeiro, they started the city’s first advertising agency. They married on August 16, 1935.
After spending time in Paris during their honeymoon in 1936, the couple decided to move there.
Escaping the Nazis
While living in Paris, H. A. illustrated and published many children’s books in England and France that featured his illustrations. He earned a French patent for his books that featured cut-out-and-fold animals. In 1939, the character of Curious George was born. Originally called Fifi, he appeared in the book titled Raffy and the 9 Monkeys.
By the spring of 1940, however, it became clear that Hitler and the Nazis would invade Paris.
The Reys escaped Paris on two bicycles that H. A. had pieced together using spare parts in the early morning hours of June 14, 1940. They carried only a few things—including five manuscripts, one of which would later become Curious George.
After four days of biking, using updated Brazilian passports, they boarded a train in Orleans, France, to the French-Spanish border. From there, they traveled to Lisbon, Portugal, then back to Brazil. They moved to New York City in late 1940, where they started a new life publishing children’s books.
Margret shared her first-hand account in an article titled, “Times of Their Lives: Nine Authors and Illustrators Look Back on Significant Chapters from Their Illustrious Careers“:
“In June 1940, on a rainy morning before dawn, a few hours before the Nazis, entered, we [Margret and her husband, H. A. Rey] left Paris on bicycles, with nothing but warm coats and our manuscripts–Curious George among them–tied to the baggage racks, and started pedaling south. We finally made it to Lisbon, by train, having sold our bicycles to customs officials at the French-Spanish border. After a brief interlude in Rio de Janeiro, our migrations came to an end one clear, crisp October morning in 1940, when we saw the Statue of Liberty rise above the harbor of New York, and we landed in the U.S.A. We took a small apartment in New York’s Greenwich Village, rolled up our sleeves, and were ready to start from scratch. We did not know a single publisher, but before the week was over we had found a home for Curious George at Houghton Mifflin. Among children, we seem to be known as the parents of Curious George. “I thought you were monkeys too,” said a little boy who had been eager to meet us, disappointment was written all over his face.”
Publishing Curious George books
The couple quickly settled in and secured a 4-book contract with publisher Houghton Mifflin in February 1941. The first Curious George book featuring the mischievous monkey was published later that year, and the couple went on to publish seven Curious George books together through 1966.
Margret shared that the couple worked hard together. “We write and rewrite, we draw and redraw, we fight over the plot, the beginning, the ending, the illustrations—as a matter of fact, our work is nearly the only thing we do fight about,” she said.
However, Margret’s name did not initially appear on the Curious George covers. She shared, “When we first came to America, our publisher suggested we use my husband’s name because the children’s book field was so dominated by women. They thought it would sell better. After a time, I thought, ‘Why the devil did I do that?’ so since then my name has appeared also.” (Both their names appeared in 1944.)
H. A. Rey died on August 26, 1977, just before Curious George‘s biggest popularity boom, following a 1978 animation deal that brought Curious George to American TV and film. Margret died on December 21, 1996.
Over 100 million copies of Curious George books have been sold worldwide today.
