Bruce Degen was an artist and writer best known for illustrating dozens of books for young readers, including the beloved children’s book series “The Magic School Bus.”
- Died: November 7, 2024 (Who else died on November 7?)
- Details of death: Died at his home in Newtown, Connecticut of pancreatic cancer at the age of 79.
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Bruce Degen’s legacy
Degen was already a respected author and illustrator of children’s books when he was tapped to work on “The Magic School Bus.” His humor and eye for detail were what landed him the task of creating images to accompany the words of author Joanna Cole (1944–2020).
“The Magic School Bus” follows the adventures of Ms. Frizzle as she teaches science lessons to her elementary school class via adventurous field trips in a bus that can go anywhere. The pages are dotted with word balloons, sticky notes, and other bits and pieces that Degen rendered in loving detail with pen lines, watercolor, and colored pencils. His rendition of Ms. Frizzle made her an unforgettable favorite of children’s literature, with her wildly frizzy red hair, wide array of printed dresses, and shoes with unusual buckles.
Degen studied art at Cooper Union, then Pratt Institute, and he had intended to be a fine artist. But he realized as a young man, while visiting an exhibit of Norman Rockwell’s work, that he wanted to create something that would make people smile and laugh. He found his way to his calling while teaching art in the New York City public schools, and “The Magic School Bus” series made him successful enough to be able to pursue writing and illustrating full time.
Though “The Magic School Bus” is Degen’s best recognized and longest running work, he also wrote and illustrated dozens of other books, as well as illustrating books by other authors. Among his best-known writings is “Jamberry,” a poem for preschoolers about a bear and a boy picking berries. He also wrote and illustrated such books as “Aunt Possum and the Pumkin Man,” his 1977 debut; “Daddy Is a Doodlebug;” “I Gotta Draw;” and his most recent, 2016’s “Nate Likes to Skate.”
In the same year he published his first book, Degen had his first collaboration with another author, illustrating Malcolm Hall’s “Forecast.” In 1980, he began illustrating Jane Yolen’s “Commander Toad” series of science fiction for children. Another long-running collaboration was the “Jesse Bear” books by Nancy White Carlstrom.
Notable quote
“One of my favorite books [in childhood] was ‘My Father’s Dragon’ by Ruth Stiles Gannet, which was a very imaginative adventure story where a young boy frees a captive baby dragon on a wild island. It has everything. Adventure, scares, and terrific illustrations. I can remember going to the library and not wanting to wait to get it home and read it yet again, so I sat under a big tree in the park halfway home and read until it felt like I was in the forest on that wild island.” — from a 2012 interview for Cynsations
Tributes to Bruce Degen
Full obituary: The New York Times
