Wikipedia

Robert Kraus

(Redirected from Windmill Books)
For the Austrian footballer, see Robert Kraus (footballer). For Adolph Robert Kraus (sculptor), see Bob Krause (disambiguation).

Robert Kraus (June 21, 1925 – August 7, 2001) was an American children's author illustrator, cartoonist and publisher. His successful career began early at the New Yorker Magazine, producing over hundreds of cartoons and nearly two dozen covers for the magazine over 15 years. Afterwards, he pivoted his career to children's literature, writing and illustrating over 100 children’s books and publishing even more as the founder of publishing house Windmill Books. His body of work is best remembered for depicting animal heroes who always try their best and never give up, which were ideals important to him at an early age.

Robert Kraus
BornHerman Robert Kraus
(1925-06-21)June 21, 1925
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedAugust 7, 2001(2001-08-07) (aged 76)
Kent, Connecticut, U.S.
Resting placeRidgefield, Connecticut
OccupationArtist, author, illustrator, publisher
LanguageEnglish
EducationLayton School for the Arts
Alma materArt Students League of New York
Period1932-1995
GenreChildren's literature
Notable worksLeo the Late Bloomer (illustrations by Jose Aruego

Milton the Early Riser (illustrations by Jose Aruego Harriet and the Promised Land (illustrations by Jacob Lawrence Amanda Remembers

The Bunny's Nutshell Library
Notable awardsCaldecott Medal (as publisher of William Steig's Roland the Minstrel Pig)
SpousePamela Kraus, née Pamela Vivienne Evan-Wong
ChildrenBruce R. Kraus, Charles William Kraus
RelativesFather-in-law Robert Victor Evan-Wong

Biography

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Personal

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Robert Kraus was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1925 to parents Jack, who was in the real estate business, and Esther (Rosen) Kraus.[1] His mother nurtured lessons in him that appear as important themes in Kraus’s later written work in the children’s literature genre.[2] He graduated from Milwaukee’s Layton School for the Arts in 1942 and the Arts Student League of Manhattan, NY in 1945. [1]During that time, Kraus was excluded from the military during WWII because of vision problems. He met his wife, Pamela (formerly Pamela Vivienne Evan-Wong), while at the Art Students League and they were married on December 11, 1946.[2] Together they had two sons, Bruce and Bill. In 1965, he moved into the 1865 Colonial Revival House in Ridgefield, Connecticut on the corner of Main Street and Branchville Road where he was often seen in the community walking his pug, Hoover.[3]

Early career

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At age 10, Kraus won a cartoon contest from his local paper the Milwaukee Journal. By age 12, he was hired by that same journal to contribute a weekly cartoon entitled "Public Nuisances." At age 16, he made his first cartoon sale to The New Yorker, which was the most prestigious platform for cartoon prints in the nation at the time[1] Kraus also freelanced for other publications such as Collier's, the old Life, Esquire Magazine[1], and The Saturday Evening Post. [4] He continued both his education and freelance work at the Arts Student League of Manhattan, NY until he became a full-time employee at the New Yorker on contract.[1]

Cartoons

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He became a regular New Yorker contributor as both a cartoonist and cover artist beginning in the 1950s. Kraus contributed 50 cartoons in his first year at the "New Yorker."[4] Most of his cover art reflected his romantic idea of the City (artists' studios and supplies, a chess club, a gypsy fortune teller, the Chinese New Year parade, the Coney Island roller coaster, a grand cafe, St. Patrick's Cathedral, a fancy dress ball) and he recorded his rural surroundings in Danbury, Connecticut, with its farmer's markets and county fairs. Many of his cartoons embodied the stereotypes of their day: drunks, crooks, convicts, pirates, clowns, mythological characters, millionaires dating floozies, big businessmen, prizefighters, etc. An important part of his cartooning career was a multi-page spread on the New York World's Fair of 1963-64. In his 15 years at the New Yorker,[1] Kraus produced over 450 cartoons and 21 covers.[2] In 1983, after taking an extended break from cartooning to work on children’s literature, Kraus created a Sunday feature called “Zap! The Video Chap,” targeted at children who were growing addicted to playing video games.[3]

Children's books

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In 1954, Kraus decided to pivot his career. He began writing and illustrating children's books, beginning with Junior the Spoiled Cat, The Littlest Rabbit, The Trouble with Spider (later expanded into the Spider, Fly and Ladybug series), I, Mouse, Mouse at Sea, The Bunny's Nutshell Library, Carla Stevens' Rabbit and Skunk series, and the haunting and critically acclaimed Amanda Remembers. The book Leo the Late Bloomer, an encouraging story about making one's own pace, is a continuing legacy.[5] He utilized his extensive network of creators from the New Yorker to team up with illustrators like William Steig and Charles Addams.[1]

Kraus could speak directly to children without a trace of artificiality or condescension, naturally embodying both them and himself in a variety of small but plucky animal protagonists. His stories often centered on animal heroes with humanistic qualities, teaching lessons like “never give up” and always do your best even if you don’t at first succeed,” which Kraus learned from his mother.[2] He once explained that he wrote children’s books to console himself, encourage himself and others, and investigate problems he observed in society. The story, “Miranda’s Beautiful Dream” was inspired by the life of Martin Luther King.[3] The book Leo the Late Bloomer, an encouraging story about making one's own pace, is a continuing legacy. Kraus once said that “the greatest compliment anyone can give you is to buy your stuff.”[3]

Academia

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The Windmill Books and Robert Kraus Papers are among the University of Minnesota's Children's Literature and Art Collections.

Professor Paul Fry has used one of Kraus's lesser works, Tony the Tow Truck, tongue-in-cheek to teach a popular English course at Yale, Introduction to the Theory of Literature, using its hundred-word text to illustrate topics such as Hermeneutics, Semiotics, Structuralism, Deconstruction, Queer Theory and Gender Performativity.[6]

Publishing Company

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Tapping his friendships with other New Yorker artists, Kraus launched a small publishing company, Windmill Books in 1965, publishing The Chas. Addams Mother Goose, and William Steig's[7] Roland the Minstrel Pig, followed by Steig's Caldecott Medal-winning Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.[8] The prestige of Windmill even attracted renowned painter Jacob Lawrence, whose Harriet and the Promised Land (with verse by Kraus) became the first children's book reviewed in the Art section of the New York Times and was recently[when?] featured in the Lawrence retrospective at the Guggenheim. Kraus soon quit the New Yorker to run Windmill full-time, as publisher, and wrote and illustrated books for Windmill as well as for Scholastic and other publishers. Windmill artists included Fred Gwynne (the actor), Edna Eicke, Robert Byrd, Hans Kraus (no relation), VIP (Virgil Partch) and Mischa Richter. Windmill published a set of Norman Rockwell covers with original backstories (which Kraus wrote in consultation with Rockwell) as The Norman Rockwell Storybook and with filmmaker Robert Flaherty produced a children's book version of Flaherty's Nanook of the North. Windmill also pioneered "board" and "bathtub" books that doubled as toys for very small children, and dabbled in pop culture with its Elvis calendar and Encyclopedia Galactica.

In spite of its flirtations with the mass market, in the end Windmill Books proved to be more of a succes d'estime than anything else. The company struggled through legal difficulties with its distributor and was forced to sign over to Simon & Schuster in the 1980s.[1] Steig's best-known children's book, Shrek, was published elsewhere. Kraus and Windmill are probably best remembered as the author and publisher of Leo the Late Bloomer, Whose Mouse Are You, Milton the Early Riser and other books beautifully and imaginatively illustrated by Jose Aruego and Arianne Dewey, as well as the seasonal favorite The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher, illustrated by VIP. Kraus wrote stories, but his passion was drawing and illustrating—He once said, "I love drawing...Giving my stories to somebody else was like giving a way a child."[4] In total before its sale, Windmill House had published over two hundred books on three continents.[3]

Honors and reception

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Reviewers from the New York Times praise Kraus’ simple but meaningful style and tone. In regards to his book “Old-Fashioned Raggedy Ann & Andy ABC Book,” illustrated by Johnny Gruelle, they write “Evoking nostalgia, this simple--yet elegant--dictionary is based on the-way-it-used-to-be stylized illustrations and delightful rhymes.”[2] His stories, Whose Mouse Are You?, Milton the Early Riser, and Owliver were named notable children’s books by the American Library Association. His book Herman the Helper was a Trade Book Award Winner and appeared on the Horn Book Honor List. In the more visible public domain, his story Leo the Late Bloomer was read on national television by former First Lady Barbara Bush during her campaign to promote children’s literacy. A collection of his manuscripts are stored and preserved at Syracuse University.[1]

End of life

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Kraus died of heart failure in a nursing home[1] in 2001 in Kent, Connecticut. He is buried at Fairlawn Cemetery in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and etched on his gravestone is an image of a spider, a character from one of his books.[3] He is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, the former Pamela Vivienne Evan-Wong, of Georgetown, British Guiana, a fellow student at the New York Art Students' League, and by their two sons, Bruce and Bill and four grandchildren Parker, Jack, Margaret and Vivienne.

Author Only[1]
Book Title Publisher Year
Harriet and the Promised Land Windmill Books 1968
Whitney Darrow, Jr.'s Unidentified Lying Elephant Windmill Books 1968
The Children Who Got Married Windmill Books 1969
Animal Etiquette Windmill Books 1969
Don't Talk to Strange Bears Windmill Books 1969
Rumple-Nose Dimple and the Three Horrible Snaps Windmill Books 1969
The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher Windmill Books 1969
The Rabbit Brothers, Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith 1969
I'm Glad I'm a Boy, I'm Glad I'm a Girl Windmill Books 1970
Whose Mouse Are You? Macmillan 1970
Vip's Mistake Book Windmill Books 1970
Bunya the Witch Windmill Books 1971
Shaggy Fur Face Windmill Books 1971
Ludwig, the Dog Who Snored Symphonies Windmill Books 1971
Pipsqueak, Mouse in Shining Armor Windmill Books 1971
Lillian, Morgan and Teddy Windmill Books 1971
The Tree That Stayed Up Until Next Christmas Windmill Books
Leo the Late Bloomer Windmill Books 1971
Milton the Early Riser Windmill Books 1972
How Spider Saved Halloween Parents Magazine Press 1973
Big Brother Parents Magazine Press 1973
Pip Squeaks Through Springfellow Press 1973
Poor Mister Splinterfitz! Dutton 1973
Rebecca Hatpin Windmill Books 1974
Pinchpennny Mouse Windmill Books 1974
Owliver Windmill Books 1974
Herman the Helper Windmill Books 1974
Three Friends Windmill Books 1975
I'm a Monkey Windmill Books 1975
The Night-Light Story Book Windmill Books 1975
The Gondolier of Venice Windmill Books 1975
Boris Bad Enough Windmill Books 1976
Dinosaur Do's and Don'ts Windmill Books 1976
The Good Mousekeeper Windmill Books 1977
The Detective of London (co-written with son, Bruce Kraus) Windmill Books 1977
Noel the Coward Windmill Books 1977
Springfellow Windmill Books 1978
Musical Max Windmill Books 1979
Another Mouse to Feed Windmill Books 809
Mouse Work Windmill Books 1980
Mert the Blurt Windmill Books 1980
Puppet Pal Books (a four volume collection) Windmill Books 1981
The Old Fashioned Raggedy Ann & Andy ABC Book Windmill Books / Simon and Schuster 1981
The King's Trousers Windmill Books 1981
Leo the Late Bloomer Takes a Bath Windmill Books 1981
Herman the Helper Cleans Up Windmill Books 1981
See the Christmas Lights Windmill Books 1981
Box of Brownies (a four volume collection) Windmill Books 1981
Tony the Truck Grosset & Dunlap 1985
Mrs. Elmo of Elephant House Delacorte Press 1986
Where Are You Going, Little Mouse? Greenwillow Books 1986
Screamy Mimi Simon & Schuster 1987
Come Out and Play, Little Mouse Greenwillow Books 1987
The Hoodwinking of Mrs. Elmo Delacorte Press 1987
Robert Kraus' A Sunny Day in Babytown Little Simon 1987
Robert Kraus' Babytown Express Little Simon 1987
Robert Kraus' Meet the Babies Little Simon 1987
Robert Kraus' Welcome to Babytown Little Simon 1987
Little Beep Little Simon 1987
Tiny Tow Truck Little Simon 1987
How Spider Saved Easter Scholastic 1988
Noah Count Vampire Detective in Mummy Vanishes:

A Mummy Dearest Creepy Hollow Whoooooooodunnit?

Warner Juvenile Books 1988
How Spider Saved Thanksgiving Scholastic 1991
How Spider Saved the Flea Circus Scholastic 1991
How Spider Stopped the Litterbugs Scholastic 1991
Dr. Mouse, Bungle Jungle Doctor Western 1992
All My Chickens Western 1993
Dance, Spider, Dance! Western 1993
The Adventures of Wise Old Owl Troll Assosciates 1993
Jack O'Lantern's Scary Halloween Western 1993
Fables Aesop Never Wrote but Robert Kraus Did Viking 1994
Near Myths: Dug Up and Dusted Off Viking 1996
Big Squeak, Little Squak Orchard Books 1996
O'Malley Orchard Books 1996
Little Louie the Baby Bloomer Harper Collins 1998
The Making of Monkey King (retold with Debby Chen) Pan Asian Publications 1998
Mort the Sport Orchard Books 2000
Mouse in Love Orchard Books 2000
Illustrator Only[1]
Book Author Publisher Year
Red Fox and the Hungry Tiger Paul Anderson Addison-Wesley 1962
Rabbit and Skunk and the Spooks Carla Stevens Scholastic 1968
Rabbit and Skunk and the Scary Rock Carla Stevens Scholastic 1970
Cleveland Amory's Animail Cleveland Amory Dutton 1976
Rabbit and Skunk and the Big Fight Carla Stevens Scholastic 1976
Author and Illustrator[1]
Book Publisher Year
Junior the Spoiled Cat Oxford University Press 1955
All the Mice Came Harper 1955
Ladybug, Ladybug Harper 1955
The Littlest Rabbit Harper 1957
I, Mouse Harper 1958
The Trouble with Spider Harper 1962
Miranda's Beautiful Dream Harper 1964
Penguin's Pal Harper 1964
Mouse at Sea Harper 1964
Amanda Remembers Harper 1965
"The Bunny's Nutshell" library series:
  • The Silver Dandelion
  • Juniper
  • The First Robin
  • Springfellow's Parade
 Harper 1965
My Son, the Mouse Harper 1967
Little Giant Harper 1967
Hello Hippopotamus (under pseudonym Eugene H. Hippopotamus) Windmill Books 1969
Daddy Long Ears Windmill Books 1970
How Spider Saved Christmas Windmill Books 1970
The Tale Who Wagged the Dog Windmill Books 1971
"The Night Light" library series:
  • Good Night, Little One
  • Good Night, Little ABC
  • Good Night, Little Richard Ravvit
 Sprinfellow 1972
Animal Families Windmill Books 1980
See the Moon Windmill Books 1980
How Spider Saved Turkey Windmill Books 1981
The Old-Fashioned Raggedy Ann and Andy ABC Book Windmill Books / Simon & Schuster 1982
Bumpy the Car Putnam 1985
Squeaky (under pseudonym S. Silly) Windmill Books 1982
Squeaky's One Man Band (under pseudonym S. Silly) Windmill Books 1982
I'm a Little Airplane (under pseudonym I.M. Tubby) Tubby Books 1982
I'm a Little Fish (under pseudonym I.M. Tubby) Tubby Books 1982
I'm a Little House (under pseudonym I.M. Tubby) Tubby Books 1982
I'm a Little Tugboat (under pseudonym I.M. Tubby) Tubby Books 1982
Freddy and the Fire Engine Putnam 1985
How Spider Saved Valentine's Day Scholastic 1986
Spider's First Day at School Scholastic 1987
Happy City Simon & Schuster 1987
Happy Farm Simon & Schuster 1987
Spider's Home Town: A Story to Color Scholastic 1988
Here Comes Tardy Toad Silver Press 1989
Ella the Bad Speller Silver Press 1989
Good Morning, Miss Gator Silver Press 1989
Buggy Bear Cleans Up Silver Press 1989
How Spider Saved the Baseball Game Scholastic 1989
Phil, the Ventriloquist Greenwillow 1989
Daddy Long Ears Christmas Surprise Simon & Schuster 1990
Daddy Long Ears Halloween Simon & Schuster 1990
Private Eyes Don't Blink Warner Books 1990
Spider's Baby-Sitting Job Scholastic 1990
Spider's Draw-a-Long Book Scholastic 1990
Creepy Hollow Ghostly Glowing Haunted House Warner Books 1990
Boogie Woogie Bears Go Back to Nature Warner Books 1990
Boogie Woogie Bears' Picnic Warner Books 1990
Jack Galaxy, Space Cop Bantam 1990
Klunky Monkey, New Kid in Class Bantam 1990
Mixed-Up Mice Clean House Warner Books 1990
Mixed-Up Mice in the Big Birthday Mix-Up Warner Books 1990
Mummy Knows Best Warner Books 1990
Mummy Vanishes Warner Books 1990
Musical Max Simon & Schuster 1990
The Phantom of Creepy Hollow Warner Books 1990
Squirmy's big Secret (with Bonnie Brook) Silver Press 1990
Wise Old Owl's Halloween Adventure (with Pamela Kraus) Troll 1993
Wise Old Owl's Christmas Adventure (with Pamela Kraus) Troll 1993

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Herman Robert Kraus." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2007. Gale Literature Resource Center; Gale. Web.
  2. ^ a b c d e Oliver, Myrna (2001). "Obituaries; Robert Kraus; Cartoonist Wrote Children's Books". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 421623372.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Ridgefield notables: Robert Kraus, New Yorker cartoonist". The Ridgefield Press. 18 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Robert Kraus Obituary San Francisco Gate, Article Collections, 30 Aug 2001, Hearst Communications, Inc. 2011 Retrieved 6/2/2011
  5. ^ Lahey, Jessica (14 October 2015). "Give Late Blooming Children the Time They Need". Motherlode Blog.
  6. ^ Fry, Paul H. (2012). Theory of Literature. The Open Yale Courses Series. ISBN 9780300180831.
  7. ^ "Steig, William 1907-2003 - Dictionary definition of Steig, William 1907-2003 | Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  8. ^ "Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938-Present". American Library Association.
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