Harold and the Purple Crayon – Page 3

Crockett Johnson and the Purple Crayon: A Life in Art

August 1, 2011Philip NelBarnaby, Biography, Children's Literature, Comics, Crockett JohnsonBarnaby, Biography, Children's Literature, Comics, Crockett Johnson, Harold and the Purple Crayon3 Comments

This piece appeared in Comic Art in 2004. As the magazine is now (sadly) defunct, I’m posting the article here. Until The Purple Crayon and a Hole to Dig: The Lives of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss appears in 2012, this essay is the most thorough account of Johnson’s life available. Enjoy! Philip Nel, “Crockett

The Purple Crayon’s Legacy, Part I: Comics & Cartoons

One side effect of writing The Purple Crayon and A Hole to Dig: Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss (forthcoming, 2012) is that I could write pages on how Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955) has influenced subsequent artists and writers – and, for that matter, on Harold’s antecedents. (The list of works discussed in