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Lane Smith (born August 25, 1959) is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He is the Kate Greenaway medalist (2017) known for his eclectic visuals and subject matter, both humorous and earnest, such as the contemplative Grandpa Green , which received a Caldecott Honor in 2012, and the outlandish Stinky Cheese Man , which received a Caldecott Honor in 1992.
Smith was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but moved to Corona, California at a young age. [1] He spent summers in Tulsa and cites experiences traveling there via Route 66 as inspirations for his work, which combines highbrow and lowbrow elements.
He studied at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, at the encouragement of his high-school art teacher, Dan Baughman, helping to pay for it by working as a janitor at Disneyland. While still a student, he illustrated for alternative newspapers, L.A. Weekly , L.A. Reader and for the punk magazine No Mag. He also illustrated album covers for Oingo Boingo ( Good For Your Soul ) and the Dickies ( Stukas Over Disneyland ). He graduated from Art Center in 1983 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration and moved to New York City, where he freelance illustrated for various publications, including TIME , Mother Jones , Ms. , Sports Illustrated , The New York Times , Newsweek , Rolling Stone , The Progressive , The Atlantic , The Boston Globe , Sesame Street Magazine and others.
Smith is married to Molly Leach, who has designed many award-winning books, including nearly all of Smith's.
Smith is most noted for his work on bestselling and award-winning children's books. He has won the British Kate Greenaway Medal (There Is a Tribe of Kids), the Bratislava Golden Apple ( The Big Pets ), two American Caldecott Honors ( The Stinky Cheese Man and Grandpa Green ), five New York Times' Best Illustrated Book awards ( Halloween ABC , The Stinky Cheese Man, John, Paul, George & Ben , Grandpa Green and A House That Once Was), and lifetime achievement awards from the Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (2012), [2] and the Society of Illustrators (2014). [3]
His illustrations are created in varying media: oil paint, pen and ink, pencil, watercolor, collage and digital. Smith's artwork is also known for its experimental, textural nature. In a 2017 exhibit at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, "Collecting Inspiration", Smith's written appreciation for the art of Alice and Martin Provensen gives us insight into his own philosophy. The statement read:
Some picture book artists are very consistent with their style, which is probably a good thing for business and career. My favorite artists are the ones who try a different look with every book. That's why I like the Provensens. Everything they did had a lot of experimentation going on. Like children who haven't yet been told not to splatter ink onto their drawings, or not to mix oil paints with watercolors, or that the sky is blue, not green … [In my own paintings] from The Stinky Cheese Man I made the textures by combining oil paint with water-based varnishes. You're not supposed to do that. It makes the paint bubble up like little pebbles.
Smith has illustrated works by Florence Parry Heide, Judith Viorst, Bob Shea, Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, Eve Merriam, Roald Dahl, George Saunders, Jory John, Chris Harris and Julie Fogliano. He has both written and illustrated several books, most notably It's a Book (2010)—a New York Times bestseller for over six months and translated into over twenty-eight languages— The Happy Hocky Family (1996), The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country! (2002), Madam President (2008), John, Paul, George & Ben (2006) and A Perfect Day (2017).
On May 5, 2015, Roaring Brook Press published Smith's first middle-grade novel, Return to Augie Hobble, which received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews and Booklist. It was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year.
He is also known for his collaborations with Jon Scieszka. Introduced by their wives Molly Leach and Jeri Hansen in the late 1980s, the two collaborated on several award-winning and bestselling books from 1989 to 2007. Their two most popular books, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! (1989) and The Stinky Cheese Man (1992), made lists by both TIME magazine and School Library Journal ranking them among the 100 best all-time picture books. (The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!, number 35, and The Stinky Cheese Man, 91). [4] Smith has also illustrated some volumes of Scieszka's The Time Warp Trio novels.
He is a five-time recipient of the New York Times' Best Illustrated Book award. In 2012, Smith was named a Carle Honor Artist for lifelong innovation in the field of children's books. [5] In 2014, he received the Society of Illustrators' Lifetime Achievement award. [6]
Smith's artistic talents have also been featured in other books and mediums. He illustrated one edition of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach , and was Conceptual Designer for the 1996 Disney movie adaptation. He contributed conceptual designs for Disney and Pixar's Monsters, Inc. and the film adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! . Smith wrote and directed the 35 mm short Water Ride (1994), which starred Bill Irwin. It aired on PBS and the Bravo channel, and was screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival, among others.
Some listings may not be first editions.
Smith has also illustrated some installments of Scieszka's The Time Warp Trio series of novels.[ clarification needed ]
The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The Caldecott and Newbery Medals are considered the most prestigious American children's book awards. Besides the Caldecott Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to runners-up they deem worthy, called the Caldecott Honor or Caldecott Honor Books.
Viking Press is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acquired by the Penguin Group in 1975.
Jon Scieszka is an American children's writer, best known for his picture books created with the illustrator Lane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and the founder of Guys Read – a web-based literacy program for boys whose mission is "to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers."
Postmodern picture books are a specific genre of picture books. Characteristics of this unique type of book include non-linear narrative forms in storybooks, books that are "aware" of themselves as books and include self-referential elements, and what is known as metafiction.
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales is a postmodern children's book written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith. Published in 1992 by Viking, it is a collection of twisted, humorous parodies of famous children's stories and fairy tales, such as "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Gingerbread Man". The book won The New York Times Best Illustrated Book award, was a Caldecott Honor book in 1993, and has won numerous other awards in various countries.
James Howe is an American children's writer who has written more than 79 juvenile and young adult fiction books. He is best known for the Bunnicula series about a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables.
John, Paul, George & Ben is a children's picture book written and illustrated by American illustrator Lane Smith. Released in 2006 through Hyperion Books, it tells the story of five of the Founding Fathers of American independence: John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The book describes each of them to be independent, bold, honest, clever, or noisy. The name of the book is a parody of the names of the members of the British band The Beatles; John, Paul, George and Ringo, with Ben replacing Ringo.
Flying Jake is a children's picture book by Lane Smith. It was originally published in 1988 by Macmillan Publishing Company and reprinted by Viking Press in 1996. In this wordless story, a boy named Jake takes flight in pursuit of his pet bird, which has flown out of its cage and through a window. Flying Jake was the first independent work by Smith, who later illustrated The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.
Neal Porter is an American children's book editor. He is the founder of Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Holiday House.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee is a 2010 children's picture book written by Philip C. Stead and was illustrated by Erin E. Stead. The book, published by Roaring Brook Press, depicts a zookeeper who has bonded with the animals he cares for and who come and visit him one day when he gets sick. Phillip Stead wrote the book hoping his wife Erin would illustrate it after a period where she had become discouraged with her art. The book was well reviewed, and Erin won the 2011 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations. The book received praise for its woodblock illustrations and for its message about what friends will do to help and support each other.
Erin E. Stead is an American illustrator of children's books. She won the 2011 Caldecott Medal for the year's best-illustrated U.S. picture book, recognizing her first publication, A Sick Day for Amos McGee.
Mac Barnett is an American writer of children's books living in Oakland, California. He was born in Castro Valley, California but grew up in Castro Valley and Oakland.
Grandpa Green is a children's book by author and illustrator Lane Smith. It was published by Roaring Brook Press in 2011 and was selected as a Caldecott Honor Book in 2012.
Green is a children's picture book by American author and artist Laura Vaccaro Seeger. It was first published in 2012 by Roaring Brook Press. The pages illustrate different shades of green in nature, with cut-out shapes linking the different scenes.
First the Egg is a New York Times bestselling children's picture book written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, published by Roaring Book Press in 2007. It was a Caldecott Honor Book in 2008 and also appeared on the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books list and the American Library Association Notable Children's Books list.
Molly Leach is an American graphic designer best known for her award-winning children's books.
Yuyi Morales is a Mexican-American children's book author and illustrator. She is known for her books Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book, Little Night, and Viva Frida, which received the 2015 Pura Belpre Medal for illustration as well as a 2015 Caldecott Honor. Morales is the first Latina to be a Caldecott recipient.
Big Cat, Little Cat is a 2017 children's picture book written by Elisha Cooper. It was published by Roaring Brook Press, a subsidiary of Macmillan Books. In the story, a large, white cat welcomes a new black cat into a family. The white cat then dies, and the cycle begins anew when the family adopts a new kitten. Cooper was inspired to write the story after his family experienced a similar situation. Critics praised his illustrations, for their ability to help further the story's messages and themes. These monochromatic illustrations were different than the style Cooper normally employed when illustrating a book. The book was well-reviewed, and received a 2018 Caldecott Honor.
Michaela Goade is a Native American illustrator. A member of the Tlingit and Haida tribes, she is known for her work on picture books about Indigenous people. She won the 2021 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations in We Are Water Protectors and is the first Indigenous artist to receive the award. Her book, Berry Song, was a Caldecott Honor book in 2023.
We Are Water Protectors is a 2020 picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. Written in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, the book tells the story of an Ojibwe girl who fights against an oil pipeline in an effort to protect the water supply of her people. It was published by Roaring Brook Press on March 17, 2020. The book was well received. Critics praised its message of environmental justice, its depiction of diversity, and the watercolor illustrations, for which Goade won the 2021 Caldecott Medal, becoming the first Indigenous recipient of the award. The book also received the 2021 Jane Addams Children's Book Award winner in the Books for Younger Children category.
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