Crockett Johnson
Recognized in the Creative Minds Montessori 2026 Teacher’s Choice list.
Crockett Johnson is one of roughly one hundred authors whose work was selected by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list — 120 books chosen across four reading stages, from first lap-reads to first chapter books. The selected book was chosen for how precisely it meets children at a real developmental moment. This recognition cannot be bought: no author or publisher paid to appear on our lists, and we take no commission on any book sale.
About Crockett Johnson
Crockett Johnson (1906–1975) was the pen name of David Johnson Leisk, a cartoonist whose comic strip Barnaby ran in the newspaper PM from 1942 to 1952 and made him famous before he wrote Harold and the Purple Crayon.
He was married to the children's author Ruth Krauss, with whom he made The Carrot Seed; from 1965 until his death he painted more than a hundred works based on mathematics, eighty of which are now at the National Museum of American History.
Also by this author: Harold's Fairy Tale · A Picture for Harold’s Room
Publisher page: www.fantagraphics.com/collections/crockett-johnson
Selected for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list
Part of The Best Children’s Books by Age, chosen by the teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX.