Lillian Hoban

Lillian Hoban (May 18, 1925 – July 17, 1998) was an American illustrator and children's writer best known for picture books created with her husband Russell Hoban. According to OCLC, she has published 326 works in 1,401 publications in 11 languages.

Early life

Lillian Hoban was born in Philadelphia and was the youngest of three sisters. She attended the Philadelphia High School for Girls. At age 14, she started classes at the Graphic Sketch Club where she met her husband and collaborator, Russell Hoban. She won a scholarship to the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, where she majored in Illustration. After getting married and settling in New York City, Hoban gave up art to study dance at the Hanya Holm School. She studied dance for ten years.

Career Hoban danced professionally and choreographed the musical television program called Tropical Holiday that aired live on Saturday nights when, according to Hoban, television was in its infancy. She also taught dance for a number of years. She dedicated herself to dancing until the birth of her second child, Abrom (Brom).

Collaboration with Russell Hoban Her earliest collaboration was with her husband Russell in the 1960s and early 1970s. The centerpiece of this work was the Frances series written by Russell. The character of Frances was inspired by the Hobans' next door neighbors in Norwalk whose daughter found many ways of putting off her bedtime.

Bedtime for Frances The first book in the series, Bedtime for Frances, was illustrated by Garth Williams. Hoban, who illustrated his first book by Harper himself, sought another illustrator for Frances because, as he said, he could not do soft and cuddly. Ursula Nordstrom suggested Williams, whose soft and furry animals seemed the perfect fit. Russell originally depicted Frances as a vole, but Williams suggested a badger. Nordstrom agreed, persuading Russell that it would be too difficult to depict a likeable vole for children. The original illustrations of Frances as a vole can be found in the Lillian Hoban Collection at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.

Other Frances books Lillian took over as illustrator with the second book in the series, A Baby Sister for Frances, and illustrated the rest. She was faithful to the badger image first established by Garth Williams but brought her own style and charm to the badger family. Hoban used expressive body postures and facial gestures to capture the emotions of the characters and give them an authentic, true to life quality. The Hobans used their eldest daughter Phoebe as the model for Frances. The Arthur series soon became wildly popular among children. Arthur the chimpanzee and his little sister Violet, explore many of the same trials and tribulations of childhood that she and her husband first explored with the Frances series. Hoban's first book in the series, Arthur's Christmas Cookies (1972), came from listening to her children baking cookies in the kitchen. Her son, Brom, devised a scheme to bake clay cookies, decorate them, and sell them for ornaments around the neighborhood to make money to buy Christmas gifts. In the book, Arthur makes clay cookies by mistake and then decides to make ornaments. Arthur's Honey Bear (1974) was also inspired by Hoban's experience with her own children who, along with the neighborhood kids, began selling their toys to each other. The activity led to a 2:00 am phone call from a concerned father who offered fifty dollars for Scooby-Doo because his son could not sleep without his security toy. The book affirms that quote. It tells the story of Harry Rabbit who sits on a rock and sings his songs of summer under the darkening shadow of a fall day while the animals around him prepare for winter. One by one, the animals ridicule him for not helping his family in the practical duties of preparing for winter. The field mice call him a dreamer and dumb. Mr. Chipmunk calls him a funny little bunny. The brown bat calls him a bothersome, bumbling bunny and his mother's calls for him to come home as it is getting late. Harry continues his song under the thin moon. When Harry finally succumbs to his mother's pleadings and arrives at his house, his three brothers scold him for not bringing anything home. Harry corrects them. "Yes I have," he says and sings his song to the delight of his loving mother who exclaims, "How lovely! You've brought home the perfect song of a summer day to carry us through the winter. You are a honey of a bunny!"

No, No Sammy Crow Hoban returned to familiar themes in No, No Sammy Crow (1981), telling the humorous and touching story of little Sammy Crow who cannot stop carrying around his baby blanket. His caring mother encourages him to find a solution to his attachment. In classic Hoban fashion, Sammy finds a creative resolution as he gives up his blanket to help hatch his new baby sibling. In the original typed manuscript, the last page of the book is handwritten on the manuscript (possibly a last-minute inspiration) that reveals how Sammy Crow secretly kept a small piece of the soft blanket in his pocket that he “niced” with his two fingers while his sister praised him for giving up his blanket. This final touch is Hoban at her finest, tuned in so sensitively and empathetically with the feelings of a young child. The guilty expression of self-indulgence on Sammy's face in the illustration tells all.

Silly Tilly series In a departure from the themes of childhood she so often explored during her career, Hoban captured the endearing charm of an elderly woman who cannot seem to remember anything in the Silly Tilly books. One of the early drafts of the first book, Silly Tilly and the Easter Bunny (1987), was titled, Lizzie Mole. Later drafts show Grandma Mole lined out and replaced with Tillie Mole. The epithet Silly was added at some point before the final publication of the book. All three of the Silly Tilly books are set around the celebration of holidays, a fascination of Hoban's for much of her career that found their way into dozens of her books. In 1965 Hoban was commissioned, along with Robert Krauss and Anita Lobel, to create oversized posters for the various holidays to display in school libraries and classrooms. Hoban's posters included the following holidays: Halloween, Valentines, Christmas, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln (Robert Krauss illustrated the Easter poster and Anita Lobel, Thanksgiving). Holidays served as the basis of some of her very best work including her last Silly Tilly book, Silly Tilly's Valentine, that was published posthumously in December 1998, five months after her death.

Collaborations with her children Other notable books that Hoban illustrated during this period include collaborations with two of her children. The Amy Loves series written by her daughter Julia portrays a child's joy at experiencing the changing seasons. The books include Amy Loves the Sun, Amy Loves the Wind, Amy Loves the Rain and Amy Loves the Snow, all published in 1989. Julia and Lillian followed those books with Buzby the cat (1990), an amusing and delightful story of a cat seeking his place in the world. Hoban also collaborated with her oldest daughter Phoebe Hoban on two books, Ready-Set-Robot! (1982), alternately titled The Messiest Robot in Zone One in the Weekly Book Club edition, and a second book, the Laziest Robot in Zone One (1983). Both books explore childhood traits and lessons in a futuristic setting. Hoban's son Brom illustrated The Sea-Thing Child (1972) authored by his father, Russell Hoban. He also wrote and illustrated three children's books. Although she did not collaborate with Brom on any of these books, Hoban encouraged him to write from personal experience after reading some of his early attempts that included fantasy plots and monsters. His book, October Fort (1981), was based on his own experience as child building a fort in his backyard. Hoban also recalls spending a great deal of time in the children's book room at the Rittenhouse Square Library in Philadelphia where there was a long, low bench under the bookshelves that wrapped around the room. This design made it easy for a child to reach the books on the shelves and then sit on the bench to read. Hoban spent countless hours at that library reading books.

Philosophy and technique Hoban did not consider herself an expert draughtsman. The first step in her illustration of characters, she explains, is capturing expression. She explains that in preparing an illustration she will first practice making multiple expressions until she finds the one that best fits the character and situation. This process created many a humorous moment for her small children when they would sneak into her home studio and find their mother making faces in the mirror. Much of her early books were printed in two colors plus black. The illustrations were created through a tedious process known as three-color separation. She most often chose the primary colors of red and yellow. Through the overlay process, she was able to make purple (red over black), green (yellow over black), orange (yellow over red). Hoban was delighted when the books started to be published in full color and she used pastels, water colors, and colored pencils sometimes in the same picture. See A Bargain for Frances, 1970 (three color separation) and the same title reprinted in 1992 in full color. Language, however, is first and foremost for Hoban as an author. The sound of the words, the rhythm of the sentences must sound natural and pleasing to her ear and the ear of a child.

Lillian Hoban died at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan in 1998 (aged 73) from heart failure.

Works

Selected books for children Author and Illustrator Arthur's Back to School Day. HarperCollins. 1996 Arthur's Birthday Party. HarperCollins. 1999 Arthur's Camp-Out. HarperCollinsPublishers. 1993 Arthur's Christmas Cookies. Harper & Row. 1972 Arthur's Funny Money. Harper & Row. 1981 Arthur's Great Big Valentine. HarperCollins. 1989 Arthur's Halloween Costume. Harper & Row. 1984 Arthur's Honey Bear. Harper & Row. 1974 Arthur's Loose Tooth. Harper & Row. 1985 Arthur's Pen Pal. Harper & Row. 1976 Arthur's Prize Reader. Harper & Row. 1978 Big Little Lion, Harper Festival. 1997 Big Little Otter, Harper-Collins. 1997 Harry's Song, Greenwillow. 1980 Here Come Raccoons!, Holt-Rinehart-Winston. 1977 I Met a Traveler, Harper and Row. 1977 It's Really Christmas, Greenwillow. 1982 Joe & Betsy and the Dinosaurs, Harper Collins. 1995 Mr. Pig and Family, Harper and Row. 1980 Mr. Pig and Sonny Too, Harper and Row. 1977 No, No, Sammy Crow, Greenwillow. 1981 Silly Tilly and the Easter Bunny. Harper & Row. 1987. Silly Tilly's Thanksgiving Dinner. Harper & Row. 1990. Silly Tilly's Valentine. HarperCollins. 1998. Stick-in-the-Mud Turtle, Morrow. 1977 The Case of the Two Masked Robbers, Harper and Row. 1986 The Sugar Snow Spring, Harper and Row. 1973 Turtle Spring, Greenwillow/World's Work. 1978

Authored by Russell Hoban A Baby Sister for Frances, Harper and Row. 1964 A Bargain for Frances, Harper and Row. 1970 A Birthday for Frances, Harper and Row. 1968 Best Friends for Frances, Harper and Row. 1969 Bread and Jam for Frances, Harper and Row. 1964 Charlie the Tramp, Scholastic. 1966 Egg Thoughts and Other Frances Songs, Harper and Row. 1972 Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, Parent's Magazine Press. 1971 Goodnight, W.W. Norton inc.1966 Harvey's Hideout, Parent's Magazine Press. 1969 Henry and the Monstrous Din, World's Work. 1966 Herman the Loser, Harper and Brothers. 1961 London Men and English Men, Harper and Row. 1962 Nothing to Do, Harper and Row. 1964 Save My Place, W.W. Norton inc. 1967 Some Snow Said Hello, Harper & Row. 1963 The Little Brute Family, Macmillan. 1966 The Mole Family's Christmas, Parent's Magazine Press. 1969 The Mouse and His Child, Harper and Row. 1967 The Pedaling Man and Other Poems, W.W. Norton inc. 1968 The Song in My Drum, Harper and Brothers. 1962 The Sorely Trying Day, Harper and Row. 1964 The Stone Doll of Sister Brute. Macmillan. 1968 Tom and the Two Handles, Harper and Row. 1965 Ugly Bird, Macmillan. 1969 What Happened When Jack and Daisy Tried to Fool the Tooth Fairies, Four Winds Press. 1965

Authored by Miriam Cohen Bee My Valentine, Greenwillow. 1978 Best Friends, Macmillan. 1971 Don't Eat Too Much Turkey, Greenwillow. 1987 First Grade Takes a Test, Greenwillow. 1980 It's George, Greenwillow. 1988 Jim Meets the Thing, Greenwillow. 1981 Jim's Dog's Muffins, Greenwillow. 1984 Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire! Greenwillow. 1985 Lost in the Museum, Greenwillow. 1979 No Good in Art, Greenwillow. 1980 See You in Second Grade, Greenwillow. 1989 See You Tomorrow, Charles. Greenwillow. 1983 So What? Greenwillow. 1982 Starring First Grade, Greenwillow. 1985 The New Teacher, Macmillan. 1972 The Real-Skin Monster Mask, Greenwillow. 1990 Tough Jim, Macmillan. 1974 When Will I Read? Greenwillow. 1977 Will I Have a Friend? Macmillan. 1967

Authored by Johanna Hurwitz Busybody Nora, William Morrow. 1990 "E" is for Elisa, William Morrow. 1991 Elisa in the Middle, William Morrow. 1995 Every-Clever Elisa, William Morrow. 1997 Make Room for Elisa, William Morrow. 1993 New Neighbors for Nora, William Morrow. 1991 Nora and Mrs. Mind-Your-Own-Business, William Morrow. 1991 Rip-Roaring Russell, William Morrow. 1983 Russell and Elisa, William Morrow. 1989 Russell Rides Again, William Morrow. 1985 Russell Sprouts, William Morrow. 1987 Superduper Teddy, William Morrow. 1980

Authored by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat Attila the Angry, Holiday House. 1985 I Don't Care, Macmillan. 1977 Say Hello, Vanessa, Holiday House. 1979 Sophie and Gussie, Macmillan. 1973 The Story of Bentley Beaver, Harper and Row. 1984 The Trip and Other Sophie and Gussie Stories, Macmillan. 1976

Co-authored with Phoebe Hoban Ready-Set-Robot!, Harper & Row. 1982 The Laziest Robot in Zone One, Harper & Row. 1983

Personal life The Hobans raised their four children, Phoebe, Brom, Julia and Esmé, in Norwalk, Connecticut before moving to a rural two-and-a-half-acre property in Wilton, Connecticut. The Hobans moved to London in 1969. Within a year, the marriage had become strained. Lillian and the children soon moved back to Wilton while Russell stayed in London and remarried in 1975. Lillian began writing her own stories upon returning to the United States. She based her tales on her experiences with her children and their neighborhood friends.

Lillian Hoban died at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan in 1998 (aged 73) from heart failure.