Background
Hurd was born in New York City to Richard Melancthon Hurd, an economist and mortgage banker, and Lucy Gazzam Hurd.
Hurd was born in New York City to Richard Melancthon Hurd, an economist and mortgage banker, and Lucy Gazzam Hurd.
He was educated at Saint Paul"s School in Concord, New Hampshire, then studied architecture at Yale University and painting with Fernand Léger in Paris.
He is known for illustrations of children"s picture books, especially collaborations with writer Margaret Wise Brown including Goodnight Moon (1947) and The Runaway Bunny (1942). Hurd returned to New York in 1933 to work as a commercial artist. There Brown was an editor at Young Scott, as well as a writer of picture book texts.
On seeing two of his paintings, she asked him if he would consider illustrating children"s books
She wrote a text herself, for what became Bumble Bugs and Elephants (1938) —"perhaps the first modern board book for babies". He also wrote and illustrated the book Run, Run, Run.
Personal life A doctored/altered photo of Hurd was included in the 60th anniversary republication of Goodnight Moon with a cigarette removed from his hand, causing controversy over publication standards. Hurd died of Alzheimer"s disease at a San Francisco hospital in 1988.