Sunday 19 November 2006

the metaphor of the yellow hat

Hans and Margret were just in their thirties when they fled Paris to avoid the Nazis. They barely had time to pack anything before they had to leave on bicycles and make their way to Spain, where they caught a train to Portugal, and then on to Brazil and New York City. One of the few possessions they carried with them their entire journey was a manuscript they had both collaborated on - a children's story about a small monkey who was always in trouble. They worked on that story during their escape - late at night, when neither could sleep, they would settle themselves by imagining new adventures for their creation, and Hans would draw the scenes on any scraps of paper he could find.

In 1941 the young couple had their book published, and the world first read about....

Curious George.






The kids have been watching the PBS show and we're re-reading some of the original stories.

Imagine running for your life, trying to keep the person you love calm by making up a story about a monkey.

Makes me hug my kids tighter.

7 comments:

A. Nonny Mouse said...

I had no idea that's how Curious George came about. Very interesting.

MsCellania said...

Shit! Gave me the goosebumps!

OvaGirl said...

I didn't know that was the Curious George story either. It's wonderful.

Susan said...

There's a wonderful book about the Rey's escape from Paris; it's for slightly older kids, but it does a nice job of explaining some really tricky concepts.

Lily said...

I had no idea. That's a wonderful story.

--erica said...

makes me want to hug my kids too..thanks for sharing..

Angewl said...

that is so sweet and sad at the same time. I never knew that.

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