Angus Clifford Racey Helps (1913–1970) was an English children's author and illustrator. His books feature a world of anthropomorphic woodland animals and birds. He is known also for illustrating postcards, greeting cards, jigsaw puzzles, playing cards and other ephemera.
Racey Helps was born in Bristol on 2 February 1913, to Clifford R. Helps and his wife Dorothy (née Davis). Brought up in Chelvey, Somerset, he was educated at Bristol Cathedral School and later at the West of England College of Art.
On 8 April 1936, Helps married Irene Orr and their daughter, Anne, was born the following year, and Julian, their son, in 1949 or 1950. Each night he told his daughter a bedtime story and when Anne was evacuated during the Second World War, he continued to write and illustrate her stories and sent them to her. During the war, they lived in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, and ran a hairdressing salon. One of Help’s illustrated booklets, on display in the salon, was spotted by a London publisher and Helps was invited to work with them.
Helps's stories were published initially by Collins and later by the Medici Society. After the war the Helps family lived in Somerset and Devon, where the rural countryside helped to further inspire Help’s anthropomorphic wildlife characters.
Racey Helps suffered a fatal heart attack at his Barnstaple home in 1970, at the age of 57.
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