Curious George

Who isn't smitten with Curious George? No matter your age, the inquisitive little fellow who always seems to get into one scrape after another has, in all likelihood, captured your heart.

Perhaps his popularity lies in the predictability of his unpredictability. You know that the second the man with the yellow hat leaves the house, warning George to be careful, George is going to get into trouble. And when George starts getting into trouble, he only digs himself deeper.

As Margret Rey observed, "George can do what kids can't do. He can paint a room from the inside. He can hang from a kite in the sky. He can let the animals out of their pens on the farm. He can do all these naughty things that kids would like to do." One cannot give enough credit to the Reys. H. A.'s delightful illustrations and Margret's clear and precise turn of phrase may appear effortless, but that's only because they labored over each book to achieve that perfect look and tone.

Instead of relying on marketing surveys for book ideas, H. A. and Margret Rey each looked to the child within. "I know what I liked as a child," H. A. once said, "and I don't do any book that I, as a child, wouldn't have liked."