Roger Bradfield
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 contests as a child and had early encouragement from his high school art teacher to pursue a career in the arts. His preferred medium is watercolor, although he has also proven himself to be proficient in pencil, pen and ink, and acrylic. Food products. Bradfield worked on the General Mills cereal  boxes of the early 1960s. These included children's cereals, such as "Kix", "Trix", "Wheaties" and "Jets", among other work. He also worked on "Mr Bubble" and some projects for the Pillsbury Company. In 1964, he did the spot illustrations for the "Bisquick Cookbook" for the Bisquick baking product. In 1968 Roger created the first Keebler elves for a series of commercials for FilmFair, an animation studio, which were commissioned by Chicago ad agency, Leo Burnett. 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. 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" storybooks, including  The Together Book, the first "Sesame Street" book in the popular Little Golden Books 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 and Sunday comic strip "Dooley's World". The strip featured stories centering on a boy and his collection of living toys. These comics  featured many unique visual gags and puns. The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate. 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, Thelma, an unhappy and bullying rag doll, and Max, an introverted mouse. 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 watercolor, but he also dabbled in acrylic, ink, and pencil . World travel. He was also an extensive world traveller and visited and sketched in countries that include Greece, Norway, Portugal, France, Italy, Mexico, England, and Spain. 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. The scheme did not work, as the gasoline 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) Children's books. Section::::"Tonka Tale" stories. Mini books for Tonka that came free with the purchases of some of their toy vehicles in the early 1970s: As author only. Books that Roger Bradfield wrote or co-wrote, but did not illustrate: Punch-out kits. Punch-out kits illustrated by Roger Bradfield for Pillsbury: