Note: The Crockett Johnson Homepage is an archived site. So, this entire page of external links will almost certainly not work. Why include it at all? Purely for the historical record. If you want to know where the links once led, plug them into the Wayback Machine.

— Philip Nel, 1 Feb. 2022

Crockett Johnson Homepage: Links

Crockett Johnson on the Web

About “Barnaby,” Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson, and Ruth Krauss

“Barnaby” & other cartoons
- The Marxists Internet Archive’s Crockett Johnson page reprints three New Masses cartoons
- Lambiek.Net’s Comiclopedia: Crockett Johnson: includes two frames of a “Barnaby” cartoon.
- A letter from Crockett Johnson on the end of “Barnaby,” at Christopher Wheeler’s Crockett Johnson photo gallery.
- Chris Walsh’s Barnaby-The Sly Little Comic strip, an August 2008 post on his Walsh-O-Matic Blog.
- Toonopedia’s Barnaby page: includes a color illustration of Barnaby and O’Malley. Also misnames Harold and the Purple Crayon as Harold and the Magic Crayon.
- UNGH’s Barnaby page. When it appeared on this site, it included the strip from 18 September 1942 and a brief appreciation. The page had vanished as of March 2000, but you could still read the text, courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured it on 8 Oct. 1999. Now (August 2003), the Wayback Machine reports that access to the site “has been blocked by the site owner via robots.txt.”
- Barkis, at Kevin Huizenga’s glory.html.^* Reproduces Barkis (1956) almost in its entirety.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
- HarperCollins’ Childrens Books‘ website has this small Harold page and a larger page for the “Harold” books based on the HBO Family Channel’s series.
- Pieni Karhu [Little Bear] Publishing (publishes Valtteri ja violetti väriliitu, the Finnish version of Harold and the Purple Crayon ). Clicking on Kirjat will lead you to a page that includes Harold (once you get to the page, scroll down).
- Briarpatch once produced the Harold and the Purple Crayon Game, but I can no longer (as of 19 Sept. 2004) find the game on the website.
- HBO Family Channel‘s website: the animated series of Harold and the Purple Crayon made its debut on this network in early 2002. When last I checked, there was an interactive “Harold” section to the site.
Crockett Johnson’s art
- The Modhaus (“an online gallery of unique furnishings and decorative artifacts from the 1950s-1970s”) was selling two of Johnson’s paintings: “Projections of Aligned Triangles” (1969), “Square Divided by Conic Rectangles” (1970). (Sadly, the prices were far too high for me.) As of May 2000, these pages have disappeared (the works were probably sold). Courtesy of the Wayback Machine, you can read the Modhaus’ descriptions of the paintings. To see the images, visit the Crockett Johnson Homepage’s “Art” section.
Crockett Johnson
- Harold Underdown’s Homage to Crockett Johnson. A complete list of the Harold books, and a mention of The Carrot Seed.
- The Crockett Johnson Homepage. A comprehensive on-line source of information about Johnson and his works (if I do say so myself). You’re at the “Links” section of this page now.
- Christopher Wheeler’s Crockett Johnson photo gallery.
- Little Lit’s Crockett Johnson bio.
- Crockett Johnson Papers. At the University of Southern Mississippi’s deGrummond Collection.
Ruth Krauss
- “The Carrot Seed” by Maurice Sendak (Horn Book, March-April 2005)
- Ruth Krauss Papers. At the University of Southern Mississippi’s deGrummond Collection.
- Ruth Krauss (small page at HarperCollins’ Childrens Books)
- Ruth Krauss Teacher Resource File (at the Internet School Library Media Center)

Creative Work Inspired by Harold and the Purple Crayon

LK & KY’s Harold and the Purple Crayon.^* A choose-your-own-adventure narrative that draws on the Harold books and includes the occasional original illustration (by LK & KY). Contains an outdated link to Mr. Underdown’s page. Last updated in November 1995; no longer on-line as of July 2001, though was still accessible courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured the site on 12 May 1996. As of August 2003, the Wayback Machine no longer provides access either. See also some messages in response to the site, at the FIAR Archives — Harold and the Purple Crayon. These were no longer on-line as of July 2001, but they remain accessible courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured the site on 2 Oct 1999.
Isn’t Ben a sweetie?^* The complete text of Harold and the Purple Crayon. Last updated in January 1996. No longer at its original location, but you can still get there, courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured the site on 6 Oct. 1999.
Purple Crayon by T. L. Kelly, a poem inspired by Harold and the Purple Crayon. Posted 5 January 1997; updated February 1999.
Harold (Krug) and the Purple Crayon. A granddaughter remembers her grandfather (Harold Krug) and recalls why she will always associate him with Crockett Johnson’s book. Last modified in December 1997. Although the page disappeared by March 2000, the link above will still get you there (albeit sans pictures), once again courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured the page on 22 Dec. 1997.
Thoughts in Purple by Nicholas. A rendering of Harold and his purple crayon by Nicholas, a student in Ms. Heliman’s class, Edina Public Schools, Edina, Minnesota. As of 3 November 1998, this page has disappeared.
Can you find the letter in each of these pictures? Inspired by Harold’s ABC. Available courtesty of the Wayback Machine, which captured the site on 6 March 2001.
Gene Deitch‘s official website (Deitch animated several of the Harold books). There’s another Gene Deitch page here.

Organizations named for Harold and the Purple Crayon

Harold Underdown’s Purple Crayon: A Children’s Book Editor’s Site.
The Purple Crayon of Yale. An improvisational comedy troupe named for Harold’s famous crayon. The group’s founding members include Phil LaMarr (of MAD TV and Pulp Fiction). See also this site.

Readers’ Responses to Harold and the Purple Crayon

Letter from Ursula Nordstrom to Crockett Johnson (15 Dec.1954), included in Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, edited by Leonard Marcus. Nordstrom was Johnson’s editor at Harper’s.
The FIAR Archives: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. Includes discussion of teaching ideas (so I’ve included this same link in the “For Teachers” section, below). Courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured the site on 2 Oct 1999.
Harold and his Purple Crayon, Ryan Beckwith’s posting at a newsgroup. Message dated 24 February 1997. This page disappeared March 2000, but webmaster Christopher Ames sent me the original in May 2000, so you can see it once again.
President’s Coalition for the “America Reads Challenge”: Newsletter of 20 November 1997. Director Carol H. Rasco explains (briefly, in the third paragraph) why she likes to give Harold and the Purple Crayon as a gift.
Harold and the Purple Crayon, Matthew Parets’ reflections on Johnson’s book (at his Simply Dude Face pages). Last updated in September 1998.
review of Harold and the Purple Crayon at Trapped in the Real World
Raven’s Reviews: Crockett Johnson. When last I checked (19 Sept. 2004), the site was still there, but the review wasn’t. Instead, you could hear an extremely irritating advertisement and receive pop-up advertisements.
Reviews of Harold and the Purple Crayon by Kenny B. (age 9) and by Katherine R. (age 7). Both reviews at the Spaghetti Book Club.
Amazon.com‘s “Customer Comments” (1998-present) on Harold and the Purple Crayon.
BarnesandNoble.com’s “Customer Reviews” (1999-present) of Harold’s Purple Crayon Treasury, and “Customer Reviews” (1999-present) of Harold and the Purple Crayon.
See also the Crockett Johnson Homepage’s collection of Critics Responding to Crockett Johnson.

For Teachers: Activities Based on Harold and the Purple Crayon and Ruth Krauss’ The Carrot Seed

Best Practices — Language and Literacy Page L-14: “Help!” and “Teacher Input” for Harold and the Purple Crayon, provided by the Department of Early Childhood Education, Georgia State University.
The Danbury Public Library‘s Summer of Imagination 1998. A schedule of summer activities and events inspired by Harold and the Purple Crayon. As of April 1999, this page has disappeared.
The FIAR Archives: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. Includes readers’ responses (so I’ve included this same link in the “Readers’ Responses” section, above). Courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured the site on 2 Oct 1999.
Rigby Education‘s Activity Calendar for October 20, 1996 (Crockett Johnson’s birthday). Taking its cue from Harold and the Purple Crayon, shows how to “draw a Halloween adventure using an orange crayon.” The Crockett Johnson activity page departed from its original site in March 2000, but the link above will still get you there, courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured it on 28 Jan. 1999. And Rigby Education is still there, at its original site.
Learning Activities for The Carrot Seed at Gryphon House Online (from the book Story S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r-s). Still accessible courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured it on 10 Sept. 1999.
Brenna Roth’s instructional strategies for The Carrot Seed, from the Council on the Education of the Deaf’s Deaf Education Web Site. Instructional strageies accessible courtesy of the Wayback Machine, which captured it in August 2000. The Deaf Education site is at a new location, and the link will take you there. Whether or not the instructional strageies page is on their new site, I don’t know — I couldn’t find it.
Myriam Namolaru’s Les Histoires a Dessiner (Draw-and-Tell) site (text in French).
Fingerpainting applet using SILK and JILB (fingerpainting on-line!). No longer available.