The Journey That Saved Curious George by Louise Borden
The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey
by Louise Borden
I picked this book off the FCPS shelves at the library on Saturday because I loved Curious George as a kid and this looked interesting. I knew absolutely nothing about his creators, but the book looked like an easy read with illustrations, photos, and plenty of wartime context explained. It turned out much as I had guessed from quickly flipping through the book in the library.
I actually picked up a copy of the book in the library, tried to check it out, and then found it was on the library's missing list. I fixed that and it triggered a hold. Feeling bad about taking someone else's book and knowing there was a second copy on the shelf, I sent the book on to where it needed to go. Then I went back out to the shelves to get the other copy. That one ALSO was on the missing list! So I fixed that and it triggered another hold! This time, I selfishly checked it out, knowing I would be reading it in two days and then returning it to the library. So I gave this one a quick read tonight.
Author Louise Borden expored letters and papers, notes, diary entries, and more in order to piece together the story of these authors of the Curious George (and many other books). In the introduction, she calls it her way of "becoming a witness to part of Hans and Margret Rey's story. It is my way of honoring their creativity and their courage during a dark time in history for many countries of Europe."
The story starts with the two of them as children, before they'd even met. But, once they did, they moved to Brazil and were especially taken with the animals there. After Brazil, they moved to a part of Paris known for being friendly to the arts and literature--a perfect place for these two to start what would be, to them, The Adventures of Fifi, a story about a curious monkey.
When World War II hit and started toward France, however, they were worried. In the small town where they were staying at the time, their German accents made townfolk suspicious. Refugees from all over France headed toward Paris and they did as well. Their plan was to go to Brazil and, from there, go to stay with family in New York. But they couldn't get a train out of the city. All that was available was one tandem bicycle... which they tried and failed to ride. So Hans ended up building two bikes from spare parts. They rode for days in the terrible heat until they could get on a train.
The manuscript was one of the few things that survived the war. They couldn't take any of their clothes or other posessions, but they took the manuscript. And it was a good thing, too. They made their way to Spain, then Portugal. Each time, there was news of the Nazis invading Paris. And, each time, the border patrols and officials could have denied them passage. But, several times, they saw the children's book illustrations and the monkey manuscript and the Reys were allowed to go on. Before he was even known as Curious George, he was already saving his creators.
They were extremely fortunate, brave, and clever. I can't imagine my childhood without the Curious George stories... so I'm grateful for these wonderful authors who managed to get the book and other books of theirs to freedom.
This historical account is exciting and informative, including tons of photos, original illustrations, scans of their actual diary enties (I ADORE author's handwriting and notes), even drafts of the original manuscripts. It was sweet and dramatic, entertaining and full of hope. A great tribute to these two brave creators.