
In 1940, he married Peggy Durand, daughter of the children's writer Ruth Sawyer. After Vesper George he moved to New York City for study at the National Academy of Design.

McCloskey was born in Hamilton, Ohio, during 1914 and reached Boston in 1932 with a scholarship to study at Vesper George Art School. He was also the writer for Make Way For Ducklings, as well as the illustrator for The Man Who Lost His Head.

Four of those eight books were set in Maine: Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, Time of Wonder, and Burt Dow, Deep-water Man the last three all on the coast. He both wrote and illustrated eight picture books and won two Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association recognizing the year's best-illustrated picture book. John Robert McCloskey was an American writer and illustrator of children's books.
