Curious George’s popularity lies in the predictability of his unpredictability. You just know that right after the man with the yellow hat warns George to be careful and leaves the house, George is going to get into trouble. And when George starts getting into trouble, he only digs himself deeper.

George's ability and agility to escape trouble and danger seem autobiographical. "The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H. A. Rey", written by Louise Borden, (Houghton Mifflin) relates how George's creators fled the Nazis in 1940.

Born in Hamburg in 1898, Hans Reyersbach lived near the famous Hagenbeck Zoo, where he learned to imitate animal sounds, as well as to draw and paint. Reyersbach served in the German Army during World War I; afterward, he painted circus posters for a living. After studying at German universities, he went to Rio de Janeiro in the 1920's and wound up selling bathtubs on the Amazon.

Margarete Waldstein, also born in Hamburg in 1906, left after Hitler's rise to London. In 1935, she too went to Rio.

Mr. Reyersbach had first seen her as a little girl sliding down the banister of her Hamburg home, and they eventually married. The two became Brazilian citizens.

They sailed back to Europe for their honeymoon accompanied by two pet marmoset monkeys. The Reys ended up in Paris, where they began writing and illustrating children's books. In 1939, they published "Raffy and the 9 Monkeys." Mr. Rey drew the illustrations, and his wife wrote the stories. They labored together over each book to achieve that perfect look and tone. "I know what I liked as a child," H. A. said, "and I don't do any book that I, as a child, wouldn't have liked."

Hans was a fanatical record keeper, listing details of their work in tiny pocket calendars. In 1939, he began "The Adventures of Fifi" about a young monkey who was forever getting into trouble but then finding his way out.

War broke out that September. The Reys had signed a contract for "Fifi" with the French publisher Gallimard who saw his giraffe cartoons in the newspaper and asked him to expand upon them. The Reys used their cash advance to finance their escape.

As the Germans marched into Holland and Belgium in May 1940, the Reys had begun a French and English book of nursery songs.

Ready to escape the Nazis, Hans cobbled together two bicycles out of spare parts. On June 14, 1940, the Reys set off as German planes flew overhead, taking very little with them on their predawn flight —some food, and five manuscripts, one of which was Curious George. When the Nazis entered Paris a few hours later, the Reys were already out, riding their makeshift bicycles for four days until reaching the French-Spanish border, where they sold their bicycles for train fare to Lisbon.
The Reys found shelter in a farmhouse, then a stable, working their way by rail to Bayonne, and then to Biarritz by bicycle again. Although Jews, they got visas as Brazilian citizens. An official suspecting their German accents searched Mr. Rey's satchel. Finding "Fifi," he released them, reasoning that the creators of something so silly were surely harmless.

They journeyed to Spain and Portugal, eventually returning to Rio. "Had a very narrow escape," Mr. Rey telegrammed his bank. "Baggage all lost, have no sufficient money in hand."

The couple sailed to New York in October 1940, and "Curious George," as Fifi was renamed - made his debut the following year.

The Reys eventually settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Reys created a special Curious George at the request of the Boston Children's Hospital to help prepare children for a hospital stay. Many parents wrote to tell them how it eased their child's trauma.

The Reys wrote eight "Curious George" books; Since the first book published in 1941, "George" has sold over 27 million copies. There have been several "Curious George" films and theater productions, not to mention the ubiquitous toy figure.

Hans died in 1977, Margret in 1996. The Curious George Foundation established in 1989 by Margret funds programs for children who share Curious George's irresistible qualities — ingenuity, opportunity, determination, and curiosity in learning and exploring.

The ensuing “George” books were created by writers and illustrators imitating the Reys' style and art. His adventures have been translated into many languages, including Japanese, French, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Swedish, German, Chinese, Danish, and Norwegian.

Captions:
Hans Rey in 1940
Margret Rey
Early manuscript page from H.A. Rey’s diary page, June 1938