Robert Lawson

About the Author

(1892-1957) Robert Lawson was born and raised in New Jersey and discovered his interest in visual arts in high school, going on to receive his formal training at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts. His forays into the world of illustration for periodicals as a young working artist revealed his preference and suitedness for black and white work, sometimes in pencil or engraving, but primarily in pen-and-ink. These techniques appealed to his sense of precision and became his trademark specialty throughout his career. Lawson also wrote for children, especially on US History, a subject about which he was passionate. His own books are paragons of bibliofacture; his obsession with excellence shines through in the quality of paper, printing, layout, and binding.

Loganberry Legacy

When my mother announced she was collecting children's books in the early 1980s, I asked if she had Ben and Me, or others by Robert Lawson. No, she declared, who's he? Well, I retorted, you're not a children's book collector then. She has since rectified that error, and has his complete works in her collection. I read every book by Lawson I could get my hands on in the third grade, and I recommend him most highly. I mean, the cork trees in Ferdinand show little cork blossoms hanging from the trees (ah!, so that's where corks come from!), and Benjamin Franklin's mouse Amos was the source for my first pet's name (a gerbil). As a result of this enthusiasm, we usually have a good selection in stock here at Loganberry.