The Curious Influence of H.A. Rey

I had no idea there was an “easter egg” waiting for me when Katie Smither, a member of our Book Recommendation Panel, suggested Hawaiki Rising for the first issue of Nature Book Guide. (See page 12 of the Autumn 2022 issue.)

Hawaiki Rising is the story of a Polynesian voyaging canoe named Hōkūle‘a. Built with traditional materials and techniques, the goal was to sail across the Pacific without benefit of modern charts or instruments.

Nainoa Thompson used ancient wayfinding techniques of celestial navigation including the Micronesian Star Compass to guide the vessel, Hōkūle‘a, but he also used a book recommended by his astronomy professor, The Stars: A New Way to See Them, by H.A. Rey, the illustrator and author known for the Curious George series of children's picture books.

I’ve owned a copy of The Stars for many years; it has inspired hours of enjoying the night sky. Rey’s influence is present in many of the art pieces I made over twenty years, as he connected the stars into more meaningful images.

Hand embroidery on handpainted silk, the interior of a beaded book made by Beth Nobles in the 1990s.

But until I read Hawaiki Rising, I didn’t connect the Rey of The Stars with the Rey of Curious George. And an even better story—Margret and H.A.’s escape from Paris before it fell to the Nazis in 1940—awaited me in The Journey that Saved Curious George.

It isn’t a nature book, so it won’t be included in the Guide, but it is a rollicking story of escape by bicycles, sleeping in haystacks, and protecting the manuscript The Adventures of Fifi, which eventually became Curious George. The suggested reading age is 7-11, but it is a charming (and quick, at 80 pages) read for adults, too. Finding this connection between Rey, The Stars and The Journey that Saved Curious George was one of the great surprises of the first issue of the Nature Book Guide. —Beth Nobles