Russell Hoban was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania on February 4, 1925. He attended art school in Philadelphia and during World War II, he served in the Army and earned a Bronze Star. He 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. He began publishing children's books in the late 1950s, including What Does It Do and How Does It Work?, Bedtime for Frances and the six other books featuring Frances, The Story of Hester Mouse Who Became a Writer, What Happened When Jack and Daisy Tried to Fool the Tooth Fairies, and The Mouse and His Child, which was adapted as an animated film in 1977. In… 1973, he published his first adult novel, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz. His other books for adults include Turtle Diary, Pilgermann, and Ridley Walker. He received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award for Ridley Walker. He died on December 13 at the age of 86.
Lillian Hoban was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 18, 1925. She attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, studied dance with Martha Graham, and taught modern dance in New York and Connecticut. She also danced professionally in the 1950's. During her lifetime, she illustrated or wrote more than 100 children's books. Her first publication was a book she illustrated, Herman the Loser, written by her husband Russell Hoban, and published in 1961. She illustrated several of his books including London Men and English Men, Charlie the Tramp, Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, and books about a badger named Frances such as A Baby Sister for Frances. After the couple divorced in 1975,… she began writing and illustrating I-Can- Read-Books including Joe and Betsy the Dinosaur, Silly Tilly's Thanksgiving, and a series about Arthur the Chimpanzee and his little sister Violet. She died from heart failure on July 17, 1998 at the age of 73.