Russell Hoban is a novelist, educator, and writer of children's books. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 4, 1925. Hoban taught art in New York and Connecticut, and also worked as an advertising copywriter and a freelance illustrator before beginning his career as a writer. Hoban began publishing children's books in the late 1950s, including The Mouse and His Child. The book was adapted as an animated film in 1977. In 1973, Hoban published his first adult novel, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz. Another novel was Ridley Walker, a futuristic story set after a nuclear holocaust. Hoban received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Australian Science Fiction… Achievement Award for Ridley Walker.
Lillian Hoban was born in 1925 in Philadelphia and educated at the Philadelphia High School for Girls and the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. Hoban was also a student at the Martha Graham School of Dance and, before she became a writer and illustrator, she worked as a dance instructor. Hoban was a prolific writer and illustrator of books for children, including the popular stories about Frances, the little badger, and Arthur, the little monkey. The first two "Frances" stories, Bread and Jam for Frances and A Baby Sister for Frances, were published in 1964. There are three more books in the series. Hoban's first publication was a book she illustrated--Herman the Loser, written by her… husband, Russell Hoban, and published in 1961. In 1962, she collaborated with him again to write London Men and English Men, which she also illustrated. Altogether, she illustrated more than 50 books that she either wrote alone or in collaboration with Russell Hoban and others. The book Charlie the Tramp, also written with Russell Hoban, won the Boys Club Award in 1968. The Hobans' other awards include the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and the Christopher Award, Children's Book Category, in 1972 for Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas.