Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World

by Richard Scarry

Now celebrating it's 50th anniversary, little explorers can travel the world thanks to Richard Scarry! With 33 stories featuring fun-filled stops in New York, Paris, Tokyo, Egypt, Australia, and more, this worldwide adventure of discovery will have children ready to pack their bags and visit those international Busytowns!

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Classics, Animals, Juvenile, Kids

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

RICHARD SCARRY is one of the world's best-loved children's authors EVER! In his extraordinary career, Scarry illustrated over 150 books, many of which have never been out of print. His books have sold over 100 million copies around the world, and are currently published in over twenty languages. No other illustrator has shown such a lively interest in the words and concepts of early childhood. Richard Scarry was posthumously awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators in 2012.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I would be able to appreciate and enjoy Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World somewhat more if I had first encountered it as a young child (which no, I did not). For yes, I can certainly and to a point both see and understand how the combination of Richard Scarry's narrative and images is imbued with much movement and often laugh-out-loud humour that might well tickle the fancy of young readers and listeners (and in particular if they are also able to just consider the presented stories and illustrations in Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World uncritically).

However, as an older reader and indeed as a reader who in fact has since my family's immigration to Canada from Germany when I was ten and having had to experience very much often nasty and despicable bullying due to my ethnic and genetic background as a German absolutely and utterly despised stereotyping and in particular if it is joyfully and unapologetically overused, I simply cannot and will not stomach and must rather univocally condemn the rather massive amounts of ethnic, cultural and gender stereotyping that I have encountered during this here and yes my first and most definitely also my last perusal of Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World. As sorry and I do apologise to those of you who seem to have fond childhood memories of Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World, but in my humble opinion, almost EVERY single story featured seems to present and feature some type of stereotyping and/or generalising (such as that for example the Swiss climb mountains and blow their alphorns, that Germans are obviously all absolutely obsessive about cleanliness, that Italians drive like maniacs, that the Scots are gaga with regard to their bagpipes and so on and so on).

Combined with the fact that a few of Richard Scarry's illustrations even seem and feel (at least to and for me) as potentially visually offensive (such as that Scarry draws his Algerians as canines and dresses them in Islamic garb, even though dogs are indeed and definitely often considered as unclean animals by many Muslims) and that the names Richard Scarry gives to his diverse characters, while certainly to an extent humorous, are also way way too much of the time teeming with sometimes quite underhanded and nasty political and cultural jabs and punches (naming a Russian ursine doctor after Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev and calling the Algerian canine detective in Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World Couscous after the famous but still rather common grain dish), I can and will personally only consider two stars maximum for Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World (and frankly, even that two star ranking is in fact being somewhat kind on my part, since if I would consider how I have emotionally reacted to Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World, I should probably even be considering only one star).

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brings back fantastic childhood memories. It gave me a love for learning all about the world at the age of seven, and led me to learn more and more about the countries of the world.
It will enable your children to learn about the world with the help of all the wonderful animal characters, and all the wonderful stories.
They will travel in heir minds from New York to the Netherlands, India to
Israel, London to Tokyo and Australia to Austria.
It shows your children the folksy and peaceful side of these lands, and will install a wonderful healthy respect for other nations, as well as their own.
I strongly suggest the publishers get it back into print , and soon.

[Robu-sensei · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was little, Busy Busy World was my second favorite Richard Scarry work of all time, after What Do People Do All Day Present-day adult readers may be taken aback by the abundance of ethnic stereotypes. Forty years ago very few people would have objected. It's kind of sad, because this book was my first introduction to landmarks like the Blarney Stone and canals of Venice—and I remember I learned about all these sights of the world from this book.

My copy was printed in 1972 and the binding has been worn to the last molecule.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally non-P.C., but my favorite children's book of all time. If only the world was like this. Totally hilarious and insane.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

All right, I want to be clear here: I know this book has some seriously dubious content in places. The vast majority of the stories are set in Europe, & every single entry contains some kind of national stereotype behavior. It's definitely flawed, & even saying "Oh, remember when it was written" isn't good enough; not really. But I adored this book & all of the silly shenanigans the animals in the stories get up to as a young child. Five stars for sheer nostalgia.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in 1965. Hence, there are stereotypes to today's eyes. But if we look past these, it's a terrific introduction to traveling the world. Richard Scarry captures the reader's attention with exciting and informative llustrations, coupled with easy-to-follow written text. There are thirty-three travel stories in this book. 96 pages.

[Tasha Beach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child and when I came acrossed it again the memories came flooding back!!
I am the oldest of 5 children and unfortunately my copy has had the hard cover ripped off. I ordered a new one and realized that my original copy is almost double in size because it includes “How We Go”- cars, buses and trucks, planes, aircraft and spacecraft, trains and locomotives, ships and boats, more cars, buses, and trucks.
This is a special book to me.

[PuPilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picit még sok a szöveg egyszerre, és néhol bonyolult is, vagy épp zavaró lehet, hogy pl "szabályok" vannak egy oldalra szedve, nem mindig mese. Bizonyára inkább 4-5 éves kortól jó egyébként, de azért már most is élvezettel forgattuk, én végig is olvastam újra, a fiamnak még csak a fele mese csúszott le, de már van kedvence is belőle: Hap-ci! :) A tüsszentő panda, aki még a buszt is felborítja. :)

Kedves, kellemes emlékeket idézett fel a könyv, és az illusztrációk, várom, hogy a többi Tesz-vesz is terítékre kerülhessen majd.

[Hazel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is currently Hazel's favorite book. We have read it over and over again. Hazel's mom likes that the stories are short and we can adapt, on the fly, how many will be read.

[Aapo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Klassikkokirjan täydennetty painos oli pakko ottaa lukuun, että näki, mitä juttuja meiltä suomalaisilta on kaikki nämä vuodet pimitetty. Olisi mukava tietää, mitkä olivat ne syyt, joiden takia osa tarinoista aikanaan päätettiin jättää suomennoksesta pois. Mitään sykähdyttäviä aarteita eivät nämä täydennykset ole, mutta eivät nyt mitenkään sen nolompia kuin muutkaan. Ehkä kirjaa pidettiin vain turhan pitkänä ja haluttiin vähän virtaviivaistaa? Tuskin kai mitään poliittisia syitä? Pois jätettyjen maiden joukossa oli mm. Venäjä ja Israel, mutta vaikea nähdä, että niissä tarinoissa olisi ollut mitään syytä sensurointiin.

Eli hieno teos edelleenkin, vaikka faktojen kanssa onkin vähän niin ja näin.

[Matthew Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another of my favorite editions of Richard Scarry. Very good memories now that I see the cover again, of being read to by my mom,and my dad , in fact this book was read to me before I was four.

[Unagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I have been able to read, I don't know how many times I've read this. I know it by mind. I usually change books on my bookshelves, replacing old books with the new one I'm currently reading, but I keep this every single time. I recognise each character as my friend. And there's no such a drawing of a monument that I like more than those - San Pietro, Notre-Dame...

Da quando so leggere, ho perso il conto di quante volte ho letto questo libro! Cambio spesso i libri nella mia libreria, per metterci quelli che sto leggendo attualmente, ma non posso togliere questo. Ogni personaggio di un Paese diverso è come se fosse mio amico da sempre.
E non ho ancora trovato dei disegni di città che mi piacciano di più di questi - San Pietro, Notre-Dame...

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

In many ways this is a charming book full of funny little tales about butchers and house painters and fishermen from (almost) all over the world. But upon second glance, it's riddled with gender, ethnic and racial stereotypes which were clearly not evident to the writers in 1965. Like Egyptian men wear the fez and ride camels, while Dutchmen wear clogs and ride bicycles everywhere to damn up dykes. Seriously. And worst of all, the only working women are washerwomen and nurses. Just spiffy.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are 33 short (2 page or so) stories in here, so we had to do this in installments instead of wholesale before nap/bedtime. Scarry has so much going on on each page that make his books so wonderful. For each story, there is a character of a different nationality. Some vignettes seem maybe a little stereotypical of a culture and the names are ridiculous, but I think that's part of the charm. My son loved tracing the lines from each character to his country on the endpages also.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5* art
5* stories

If I have to read "Pierre the Paris Policeman" one more time I am going to lose my baguettes. And it's all because Pierre has a whistle that goes "Brrreeeeeet!"
Love reading this book to Squirt - so many short and funny stories - so many things to look at.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading about animals that drive cars, fly planes, and work for a living. Animals have been oppressed too long, it's good to see them out and about. Go animals!

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

An endlessly entertaining bedtime book when I was five. One of the best!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like it because it is funny. I like it partly because all the animals are from different parts of the world.

[C.G.Koens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not one of the Richard Scarry books I grew up with, but I just bought it for my great nephew's birthday and decided to read it first. I'm glad I did... because I'm keeping this book and bought him a different Richard Scarry book. I love Richard Scarry...but this one was a little weird. Culturally appropriate for the 1960s, but I'm a bit surprised it's still in print and being sold (since Dr. Seuss had some books cancelled not all that long ago). Still, the Hubs and I chuckled our way through the 91 pages of this book as I read it out loud to him. Funny to us...but not a good introduction to Richard Scarry. I'd go with something like "What Do People Do All Day?" or "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," which is what I ended up buying for the three year old. 😏

[Sara Hollar · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love everything Richard Scarry! This one is no exception. Both my 5 & 2 year olds would go for it every day at reading time.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tässä kirjassa on Richard Scarryn lyhyitä tarinoita ympäri maailmaa. Osa oli meille ennestään tuttuja, mutta suurinosa tarinoista oli aivan uusia tuttavuuksia! Kokonaisuus toimi hyvin.

[Katy Lohman · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my childhood favorites. I loved going all over the world with the characters, and the art made me happy. It still makes me happy (and nostalgic).

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Scarry's books are always a delight and this one won't disappoint. Each page spread (with a few exceptions) is its own comical little story showcasing a different nationality and/or city. It's a big book but it'd be easy to read a couple stories or two and pick it up again later. A treat!

Ages: 3 - 8

#geography #global

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[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

All 3 of my boys have loved this book. Many years ago, we kept the library copy for eons. We finally found a used copy of our own to buy, and it's starting to fall apart. We love using using voices and accents as we read the stories. We love all the detail in Richard Scarry's illustrations. I know this book is probably considered politically incorrect, full of stereotypes and sexist role constraints, but we love it anyway.

[Devon Start · Rating 5 out of 5]

if i ever make the mistake of breeding my brood shall read these books. this one i like as it shows all these different countries. denmark was a haunted house, brazil had something to do with a giant ass snake and an airplane. but they all have lowly worm and friends and that is what really matters, and mr fixit, and, well i dunno i really dug these books as a kid. stop laughing

[Anna [Floanne] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Storie, disegni e ricordi della mia infanzia che ora rivivono nelle risate dei miei bambini. La mucca che mangia il cappello di Sven Svenson e il professor Scavo con la sua mummia egiziana sono in assoluto i due racconti che ci fanno divertire di più. La lettura si conclude però sempre con il piccolo canguro Billibongo e il suo biberon di latte. Poi, tutti a nanna!

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps my almost four-year-old grandson's favorite book at our house. We usually read several stories from it whenever he spends the night. The added bonus is that he really is absorbing bits of geography and culture with the stories.

[Rudy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book, I have always loved these little stories. People today put too much emphasis in the wrong place. These are stories that kids will like, nothing else, no hidden meaning, no politics.

[Malika Bourne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Srry, but Richard Scarry's books are way too busy for my tatse. I could not and would not try to read it to a group of pre-schoolers.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids just loving reading this with me. Full of all kinds of details to notice. Hoping for some grandchildren one day...