In 1965, he moved into the 1865 Colonial Revival House in Ridgefield, Connecticut on the corner of Main Street and Branchville Road where he was often seen in the community walking his pug, Hoover.

"[4] Most of his cover art reflected his romantic idea of the City (artists' studios and supplies, a chess club, a gypsy fortune teller, the Chinese New Year parade, the Coney Island roller coaster, a grand cafe, St. Patrick's Cathedral, a fancy dress ball) and he recorded his rural surroundings in Danbury, Connecticut, with its farmer's markets and county fairs.

Many of his cartoons embodied the stereotypes of their day: drunks, crooks, convicts, pirates, clowns, mythological characters, millionaires dating floozies, big businessmen, prizefighters, etc.

[2] In 1983, after taking an extended break from cartooning to work on children’s literature, Kraus created a Sunday feature called “Zap!

He began writing and illustrating children's books, beginning with Junior the Spoiled Cat, The Littlest Rabbit, The Trouble with Spider (later expanded into the Spider, Fly and Ladybug series), I, Mouse, Mouse at Sea, The Bunny's Nutshell Library, Carla Stevens' Rabbit and Skunk series, and the haunting and critically acclaimed Amanda Remembers.

[1] Kraus could speak directly to children without a trace of artificiality or condescension, naturally embodying both them and himself in a variety of small but plucky animal protagonists.

His stories often centered on animal heroes with humanistic qualities, teaching lessons like “never give up” and always do your best even if you don’t at first succeed,” which Kraus learned from his mother.

[8] The prestige of Windmill even attracted renowned painter Jacob Lawrence, whose Harriet and the Promised Land (with verse by Kraus) became the first children's book reviewed in the Art section of the New York Times and was recently[when?]

Windmill artists included Fred Gwynne (the actor), Edna Eicke, Robert Byrd, Hans Kraus (no relation), VIP (Virgil Partch) and Mischa Richter.

Windmill also pioneered "board" and "bathtub" books that doubled as toys for very small children, and dabbled in pop culture with its Elvis calendar and Encyclopedia Galactica.

In the more visible public domain, his story Leo the Late Bloomer was read on national television by former First Lady Barbara Bush during her campaign to promote children’s literacy.