Animal Behavior

If you read my recent post about the Isetta (what do I mean “if?” Of course you did! And you loved it, too!), you will recall my mentioning the illustrator Richard Scarry. Maybe I’ll call this Scarry Week here on my blog, because I’m about to mention him again. (Note the extra “r” in his name. Scary week—with one "r"—was Halloween week. This is different…)

Scarry illustrated many children’s books (more than three hundred). Some illustrations were playful and cartoony, but his talent went beyond cartoons. He painted beautifully and realistically, which you see in illustrations like this, from I am a Bunny:

 

I like Scarry’s illustrations of fall from his book Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever (yep, that’s the whole title):

We don’t burn leaves like this now, but why haggle over details? Look how charming it is to see the bear rake leaves:

I think bears get too much of a bad rap. Everyone warns that they’ll break your car windows to get your picnic basket (pick-a-nick basket if we’re talking about Yogi Bear). But in some parts of the world, as Scarry has shown, bears are responsible creatures that rake their own leaves and even wear clothes when it gets extra cold. That hibernation story must be an urban legend…


And check out the turkey:

 

He seems like a very competent driver. Both wings are on the steering wheel. No texting and driving for that turkey…

I know I’m not the first person ever to say this, but we can learn a lot from our animal friends...