Ruth (Ida) Krauss - Works

Writer, born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She studied at the Parsons School of Fine and Applied Art, New York, and settled in Westport, CT. She is known for her innovative children's books, such as A Hole is to Dig: A First Book of First Definitions (1952).

July 10, 1993, Westport, Connecticut) was an author of children's books, the most beloved being The Carrot Seed. Krauss is a graduate of the Parson's School of Fine Applied Art.

Ruth Krauss married the (also notable) Crockett Johnson in 1941.

Maurice Sendak characterized Krauss as "a giant" in the world of children's literature. "Prior to the commercialization of children's books, there was Ruth Krauss."

Krauss was a member of the Writers' Laboratory at Bank Street School in New York during the 1940s.

Another popular book of hers,A Hole is to Dig, subtitled "A First Book of First Definitions," was published in 1952 with illustrations by the not-yet-famous Maurice Sendak. The definitions range from silly ("Mud is to jump in and slide in and shout doodleedoodleedoo") to touching ("Hands are to hold.") Is there an echo of Ecclesiastes in "Little stones are for little children to gather up and put in little piles?"

A Very Special House, published in 1953 with illustrations Maurice Sendak, is written in funny and rhythmic verse about a house that is full of things like "a table very special where to put your feet! The verse is oddly reminiscent of Poe's The Bells, though the mood could hardly be more different.

Works

A Good Man and His Good Wife, illus. The Carrot Seed, illus. The Great Duffy, illus. The Growing Story, illus. Bears, illus. by Maurice Sendak (2005). The Happy Day, illus. The Big World and the Little House, illus. The Backward Day, illus. I Can Fly, illus. The Bundle Book, illus. A Hole is to Dig: A First Book of First Definitions, illus. by Maurice Sendak (1952). A Very Special House, illus. by Maurice Sendak (1953). I'll Be You and You Be Me, illus. by Maurice Sendak (1954). How To Make An Earthquake, illus. Charlotte and the White Horse, illus. by Maurice Sendak (1955). I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue, illus. by Maurice Sendak (1956). Monkey Day, illus. The Birthday Party, illus. by Maurice Sendak (1957). Somebody Else's Nut Tree, and Other Tales from Children, illus. by Maurice Sendak (1958). A Moon or a Button: A Collection of First Picture Ideas, illus. Open House for Butterflies, illus. by Maurice Sendak (1960). Child You'd Be Very Cold, illus. A Bouquet of Littles, illus. Eyes, Nose, Fingers, Toes, illus. The Cantilever Rainbow, illus. What a Fine Day for ..., illus. The Happy Egg, illus. The Little King, the Little Queen, the Little Monster and Other Stories You Can Make Up Yourself (1968). I Write It, illus. Everything Under a Mushroom, illus. Little Boat Lighter Than a Cork, illus. Somebody Spilled the Sky, illus. Big and Little, illus.