Remy Charlip was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 10, 1929. He received a degree in fine arts from Cooper Union School of Fine Arts in New York in 1949. He studied dance at Juilliard and in 1950 became a founding dancer at the Merce Cunningham Dance Theatre and remained with the company for 11 years as a principal dancer and company costume designer. In 1958 he co-founded the Paper Bag Players in New York.
During his lifetime, he wrote and illustrated 38 children's books. The first book he provided the illustrations for was David's Little Indian by Margaret Wise Brown, which was published in 1956. The first book he both wrote and illustrated, Dress Up and Let's Have a Party, was also published in 1956. His other works include Fortunately, Mother Mother I Feel Sick, and Arm in Arm. He worked with the National Theater for the Deaf as a director, which inspired two picture books on sign language, Handtalk: An ABC of Finger Spelling and Sign Language and Handtalk Birthday: A Number and Story Book in Sign Language. His works received three New York Times Best Illustrated Books awards and a first prize for illustration at the Bologna Book Fair. He died on August 14, 2012 at the age of 83.
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