H. A. Rey’s wordless stories, Zebrology and Flying Fishes, were a satirical jab at the Nazi Race Laws of 1935. While seemingly simplistic for juvenile readers, at the time they were considered sophisticated and for an adult audience. For a discussion of this see H. A. Rey – Satirist or Subversive?
Hans Augusto Reyersbach (September 16, 1898 – August 26, 1977) was a German-born American illustrator and author, known best for the Curious George series of children’s books he created with his wife, Margret Rey. Many of their books are still in print.
Rey and his wife were German Jews who fled France in 1940, literally hours before the Nazis occupied Paris. They eventually made their way to New York.
Rey’s two wordless stories that can be seen at:
1937 Zebrology
1938 How the Flying Fishes Came Into Being
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to acknowledge the librarians/researchers (in alphabetical order) without whose help it would not have been possible to sort out the dates and details of H. A. Rey’s works:
- Erin Aults (Archives and Research Collections; McMaster University Libraries)
- Jackie Bishop (Project Archivist: Penguin Random House; University of Reading)
- Esmé Bonner (Library and Archive Assistant, Penguin Random House UK Archive & Library)
- Marge Sauls (Collections Specialist: de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection; The University of Southern Mississippi)
- Babs Viejo (Reading Room Assistant, University of Reading Museums and Special Collections)
NOTE: these institutions and support staff do not hold themselves out as experts in antiquarian/rare books or publishing and accordingly make no representations or warranties regarding any information supplied in response to a detailed query.