by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 13, 2009

Margaret Rey had fled the Nazi's rise in 1935, and living in Brazil, she met her German-born husband Hans. They moved to Paris, but eventually fled the Nazi's advance on home-made bicycles. Carried with them was the manuscript for Curious George - and another rare children's book.

63 years later, a miracle happened. It had been 21 years since the death of H.A. Rey, and Margaret had died in 1996 (at the age of 90). But in 2000 a museum curator discovered their final unpublished manuscript. Margaret Rey had always believed it was one of their best books, and Houghton Mifflin triumphantly started the new century by releasing the story: "Whiteblack the Penguin Sees the World."

Drawn in the same "French watercolor style" as the original Curious George books, it tells the story of another cheerful animal, this time a penguin. Whiteblack's friends build him a boat, and he "was ready for his trip." "Come back with plenty of stories," shouts his friend Seal, and the polar bear just wants presents. "[S]oon he was alone on the wide blue ocean," and though hours pass uneventfully, his boat is then destroyed on an iceberg. Philosophically, the penguin says "I've always wanted to be in an accident," - and knows he's got a story for his friends.

It's been suggested that the animals are an extension of Rey's own curious personality. H.A. Rey's flight from the Nazis led him and his wife to Spain, Brazil, and eventually the United States - mirroring the penguin's adventures in the days before World War II. Swimming in the vast ocean, Whiteblack spots smoke from a cruiser ship, and "lassoed a gun and climbed on board." Everything is clean and shiny, and the penguin spots his first human - who, disappointingly, looks a lot like a penguin.

Just as with Curious George, the humans chase the animal, who hides in "the muzzle of a big gun" and prepares to take a nap. The next morning when the sailors start their target practice, they inadvertently blast him miles away, into the ocean. "This is a REAL story for my radio show!" says the penguin - who's delighted that he finally had a chance to fly.

"I've always wanted to visit a foreign country."

Hans had spotted penguins at the World's Fair in Paris
in 1937, and with his wife he eventually turned his fascination into a story with illustrations. Their unpublished manuscript had traveled along with the "Curious George" manuscript on their home-made bicycles out of Paris. In a strange magic, Rey's life of movement was transformed into the world of children's illustrations, where the curious wanderer becomes a smiling penguin.

"I guess I'll take a vacation and travel," says the penguin. "Travelers always have lots of stories..."

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