Roger Martin Bradfield (September 22, 1924 – December 31, 2021) was an American children's books writer, illustrator, cartoonist, painter, and world traveller.

Early life

Bradfield was born in 1924 in White Bear, Minnesota, and was raised by his mother and grandmother.

Art

Roger Bradfield won several

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

contests as a child and had early encouragement from his high school art teacher to pursue a career in

the arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...

. His preferred medium is

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

, although he has also proven himself to be proficient in

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion (mechanical), abra ...

, pen and ink, and acrylic.

Food products

Bradfield worked on the

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company ori ...

cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more foo ...

boxes of the early 1960s. These included children's cereals, such as '' Kix'', '' Trix'', ''

Wheaties Wheaties is an American brand of breakfast cereal that is made by General Mills. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on its packages and has become a cultural icon in the United States. Originally introduced as Washburn's Gold Meda ...

'' and ''Jets'', among other work. He also worked on ''Mr Bubble'' and some projects for the

Pillsbury Company The Pillsbury Company is a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company that was one of the world's largest producers of grain and other foodstuffs until it was bought by General Mills in 2001. General Mills brands consist of Annie's, Betty Crocker, Nat ...

. In 1964, he did the spot illustrations for the ''Bisquick Cookbook'' for the

Bisquick Bisquick is a pre-mixed baking mix sold by General Mills under its Betty Crocker brand, consisting of flour, shortening, salt, sugar and baking powder (a leavening agent). History According to General Mills, Bisquick was invented in 1930 afte ...

baking product. In 1968 Roger created the first Keebler elves for a series of commercials for

FilmFair FilmFair was a British production company and animation studio that produced children's television series, animated cartoons, educational films, and television advertisements. The company made numerous stop motion films using puppets, clay ...

, an animation studio, which were commissioned by Chicago ad agency,

Leo Burnett Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an American advertising executive and the founder of Leo Burnett Company, Inc. He was responsible for creating some of advertising's most well-known characters and campaigns of the 20th cen ...

Children's books

"Jolly" Roger Bradfield is perhaps best known for his work as a children's book author and illustrator. He began his writing career when he was teaching himself how to

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

. Bored with the tutorials of his text book, Bradfield chose to practice his typing by writing something fun. Thus, his first book ''There's an Elephant in the Bathtub'' was created. Bradfield went on to write and illustrate several other titles including ''Pickle-Chiffon Pie'', ''Benjamin Dilley's Thirsty Camel'', ''Giants Come in Different Sizes'', ''The Flying Hockey Stick'', and ''Benjamin Dilley's Lavender Lion''. The "Jolly" Roger books are known mostly for their colorful illustrations and wildly imaginative stories. Bradfield illustrated some of the earliest ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and ...

'' storybooks, including ''The Together Book'', the first ''Sesame Street'' book in the popular

Little Golden Books Little Golden Books is a series of children's books, published since 1942. '' The Poky Little Puppy'', the eighth release in the series, is the top-selling children's book of all time in the United States.. Many other Little Golden Books have ...

line. He also illustrated ''Bert's Hall of Great Inventions'', ''Big Bird's Birthday Party'', and ''Sherlock Hemlock and the Great Twiddlebug Mystery''. His children's books have found a second life with Purple House Press—since 2004 the small press has reissued six of Bradfield's books.

Comics

From 1972 to 1978, Bradfield worked as a newspaper syndicate cartoonist creating the

daily Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

and Sunday comic strip ''Dooley's World''. The strip featured stories centering on a boy and his collection of living

toys A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include Toy block, toy blocks, Board game, board games, and Doll, dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed sp ...

. These comics featured many unique

visual gag In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretatio ...

s and

puns A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...

. The strip was distributed by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

. In addition to the little boy, Dooley, recurring characters were the Professor, a know-it-all wind-up toy figure, Norman, a sophisticated and reflective wind-up

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

, Thelma, an unhappy and bullying rag doll, and Max, an

introverted The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl ...

mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

Paintings

Bradfield created vibrant and colorful paintings. These paintings mostly depict subjects that he found on his world travels and playful and fun images that he conjured up with his imagination. His preferred medium was

, but he also dabbled in acrylic, ink, and

World travel

He was also an extensive world traveller and visited and sketched in countries that include

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. On one trip to Mexico, Bradfield's plane had a minor accident resulting in some damage to the plane's wing tanks. So, he enlisted the help of some of the local children getting them to patch the damage up with large wads of

bubble gum Bubble gum or bubblegum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Bubble gum flavor While there is a bubble gum "flavor" – which various artificial flavorings including esters are mixed to obtain – it ...

. The scheme did not work, as the

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic ...

melted the bubble gum, but the plane managed to reach its destination safely anyway.

Personal life and death

Bradfield and his wife, Joan, raised five children. He died on December 31, 2021, at the age of 97.

Select bibliography

Comic strip

''Dooley's World'' (King Features Syndicate 1972-1978)

Book featuring ''Dooley's World''

*''Everybody's Somebody!: A Christian Cartoonist Explores the Foibles and Frailties of Ordinary Folk with Dooley and His Friends'' by Roger Bradfield

Children's books

*''There's an Elephant in the Bathtub'' (1964) *''Hello, Rock'' (1965, 2012) Listed as one of the top 100 Children's Books of all time by Time Magazine in 2020 *''Hello Friend'' (1965) *''The Big, Happy 1-2-3'' (co-authored with Joan Bradfield) (1965) *''The Big, Happy ABC'' (co-authored with Joan Bradfield) (1965) *''Giants Come in Different Sizes'' (1966, 2011) *''The Flying Hockey Stick'' (1966, 2007) *''A Good Knight for Dragons'' (1967)

''Pickle-Chiffon Pie'' series

*''Pickle-Chiffon Pie'' (1967, 2004) *''The Pickle-Chiffon Pie Olympics'' (2011)

''Benjamin Dilley'' series

*''Benjamin Dilley's Thirsty Camel'' (1960s, 2012) *''Benjamin Dilley's Lavender Lion''

''Tonka Tale'' stories

Mini books for

Tonka Tonka is an American producer of toy trucks. The company is known for making steel toy models of construction type trucks and machinery. Maisto International, which makes diecast vehicles, acquired the rights to use the Tonka name in a line of ...

that came free with the purchases of some of their toy vehicles in the early 1970s: *''Magic Garden: A Tonka Tale by Jolly Roger Bradfield'' (came with Tonka Jeepster Runabout No. 2460) *''Toby Digs In: A Tonka Tale by Jolly Roger Bradfield'' (1973) *''Toby and Smokey: A Tonka Tale by Jolly Roger Bradfield'' (1974) (came with Tonka Frantic Flivver, number 458 and Camping The Smokey Bear Way, number 5020) - featuring Smokey the Bear

As author only

Books that Roger Bradfield wrote or co-wrote, but did not illustrate: *''Who are You'' (co-authored with Joan Bradfield, and illustrated by Winnie Fitch) (1966) *''Charles Schulz Master Cartoonist'' (Art Instruction Schools Inc, 1975)

Illustrations for other authors

*''The Bisquick Cookbook: Recipes from Betty Crocker in Answer to Your Requests'' by

*''The Box of Important Things'' by Ann Hellie (1968) *''Toby the Rock Hound'' by Jane Dwyer Walrath (1979) *''Alvin Fernald's Incredible Buried Treasure'' by Clifford B. Hicks (2009) *''All in Good Time'' by Edward Ormondroyd (2011)

=Sesame Street tie-in books

= *''The Together Book'' by Revena Dwight (1971) *''Bert's Hall of Great Inventions'' by Revena Dwight (1972) *''Big Bird's Birthday Party'' (A Golden Play and Learn Book) (1972) *''Sherlock Hemlock and the Great Twiddlebug Mystery: or The Mystery of the Terrible Mess in My Friend's Front Yard'' by Revena Dwight (1972)

Punch-out kits

Punch-out kits illustrated by Roger Bradfield for Pillsbury: *''Circus Party Kit from Pillsbury'' ("Today Only Greatest Little Show on Earth!") (1958) (illustrated circus themed punch-out kit) *''Country Fair Party from Pillsbury'' (1958) (illustrated country fair/farm themed punch-out kit)

References

External links

Roger Bradfield's Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradfield, Roger 1924 births 2021 deaths Date of death missing 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters American children's writers American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American comics creators American illustrators American male non-fiction writers American male painters American painters American watercolorists Artists from Minnesota Painters from Minnesota Writers from Minnesota People from White Bear Lake, Minnesota 20th-century American male artists