Lane Smith (illustrator)

This article is about the children's book illustrator. For the American actor, see Lane Smith.

Lane Smith

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.

Background

Smith was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but moved to Corona, California at a young age. 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.

Children's books

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), and the Society of Illustrators (2014).

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). 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. In 2014, he received the Society of Illustrators' Lifetime Achievement award.

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.

Books

Some listings may not be first editions.

As writer and illustrator

• Flying Jake (Viking Children's Books, 1988)
• Glasses (Who Needs 'Em?) (Viking, 1991)
• The Big Pets (Viking, 1991)
• The Happy Hocky Family! (Viking, 1993)
• Pinocchio: The Boy (Viking, 2002)
• The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country! (Viking, 2003)
• John, Paul, George & Ben (Hyperion Press, 2006)
• Madam President (Viking, 2008)
• The Big Elephant In The Room (Hyperion, 2009)
• It's a Book (Roaring Brook Press, 2010)
• It's a Little Book (Roaring Brook, 2011)
• Grandpa Green (Roaring Brook, 2011) – Caldecott Honor Book
• Abe Lincoln's Dream (Roaring Brook, 2012)
• Return to Augie Hobble (Roaring Brook, 2015)
• There Is a Tribe of Kids (Roaring Brook, 2016)
• A Perfect Day (Roaring Brook, 2017)
• A Gift For Nana (Random House Kids, 2022)
• Stickler Loves the World (Random House Kids, 2023)

As illustrator

Written by Jon Scieszka

• The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! (Viking, 1989)
• The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (Viking, 1992) – Caldecott Honor Book
• Math Curse (Viking, 1995)
• Squids Will Be Squids (Viking, 1998)
• Baloney (Henry P.) (Viking, 2001)
• Science Verse (Viking, 2004)
• Seen Art? (Viking, 2005)
• Cowboy and Octopus (Viking, 2007)

Smith has also illustrated some installments of Scieszka's The Time Warp Trio series of novels.

By other writers

• Halloween ABC, Eve Merriam (Simon & Schuster), 1987
• James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl (Random House, 1996 edition)
  • The illustrations also appear in the 1997 hardcover book The Roald Dahl Treasury.
• Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!, Dr. Seuss and Jack Prelutsky (Random House, 1998)
• The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip, George Saunders (McSweeney's, 2000)
• Big Plans, Bob Shea (Hyperion, 2008)
• Princess Hyacinth, Florence Parry Heide (Schwartz & Wade, 2009)
• Lulu and the Brontosaurus, Judith Viorst (Atheneum Books, 2010)
• Lulu Walks the Dogs, Judith Viorst (Atheneum Books, 2012)
• Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads, Bob Shea (Roaring Brook, 2014)
• Penguin Problems, Jory John (Random House, 2016)
• I'm Just No Good at Rhyming and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups, Chris Harris (Little, Brown, 2017)
• A House That Once Was, Julie Fogliano (Roaring Brook, 2018)
• Giraffe Problems, Jory John (Random House, 2018)

Awards and honors

• 1987 – New York Times A Best Illustrated Book of the Year, Halloween ABC
• 1987 – School Library Journal, A Best Book of the Year, Halloween ABC
• 1987 – Horn Book Honor List, Halloween ABC
• 1987 – Booklist Editor's Choice, Halloween ABC
• 1987 – Ohio Silver Buckeye Award, Halloween ABC
• 1989 – Silver Medal, Society of Illustrators, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!
• 1989 – New York Times A Best Books of the Year, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!
• 1989 – Maryland Black-eyed Susan Picture-Book Award, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!
• 1991 – Golden Apple Award, Bratislava International Biennial of Illustrations, The Big Pets
• 1991 – Society of Illustrators Silver Medal, The Big Pets
• 1991 – First-place award, New York Book Show, The Big Pets
• 1991 – Parent's Choice Award for Illustration, Glasses—Who Needs 'Em?
• 1991 – New York Times Best Books of the Year citation, Glasses—Who Needs 'Em?
• 1991 – ALA Notable Children's Book citation, Glasses—Who Needs 'Em?
• 1992 – Library of Congress Books for Children, Glasses—Who Needs 'Em?
• 1992 – A Publishers Weekly #1 bestseller, The Stinky Cheese Man, and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
• 1992 – Caldecott Honor, The Stinky Cheese Man, and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
• 1992 – New York Times A Best Illustrated Book of the Year, The Stinky Cheese Man, and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
• 1992 – New York Times Notable Children's Book, The Stinky Cheese Man, and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
• 1992 – School Library Journal, A Best Book of the Year, The Stinky Cheese Man, and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
• 1993 – Publishers Weekly, A Best Book of the Year, The Happy Hocky Family
• 1995 – Booklist Editors' Choice citation - Math Curse
• 1996 – Publishers Weekly, A Best Children's Book - Math Curse
• 1996 – ALA Best Book for Young Adults citation - Math Curse
• 1996 – No. 1 Publishers Weekly bestseller, James and the Giant Peach
• 1998 – No. 1 Publishers Weekly bestseller, Dr. Seuss' Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!
• 2006 – New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2006 – New York Times Notable Book, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2006 – Child magazine Best Book of the Year, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2006 – National Parenting Publication Gold Award, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2006 – School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2006 – Horn Book Fanfare, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2006 – Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2006 – Parenting Best Book of the Year, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2006 – Child magazine Best Book of the Year, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2007 – Zena Sutherland Award, John, Paul, George, and Ben
• 2008 – Read Boston's Best Read Aloud Book, Madam President
• 2010 – Winner, Ladybug Picture Book Award, Princess Hyacinth
• 2010 – A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book, It's a Book
• 2010 – Goodreads Choice Awards Winner, Favorite Picture Book, It's a Book
• 2010 – A New York Times Notable Book, It's a Book
• 2010 – Boston Globe, Ten Best Books of 2010, It's a Book
• 2011 – Caldecott Honor, Grandpa Green
• 2011 – A New York Times Best Illustrated Book, Grandpa Green
• 2011 – Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book, Grandpa Green
• 2011 – Silver medal Society of Illustrators, Grandpa Green
• 2011 – School Library Journal Best Book, Grandpa Green
• 2015 – A Washington Post Best Book of the Year, Return to Augie Hobble
• 2015 – L.A. Times Summer Recommended Reading List, Return to Augie Hobble
• 2015 – Amazon Editors' Picks for Summer Reading: Ages 9–12, Return to Augie Hobble
• 2015 – Publishers Weekly Best Summer Books, Return to Augie Hobble
• 2016 – Irish Times, A Best Book of the Year, Penguin Problems
• 2016 – Bank Street, A Best Children's Book of the Year, Penguin Problems
• 2017 – NEIBA finalist, A Perfect Day
• 2017 – An NPR Best Book of the Year, A Perfect Day
• 2017 – Kate Greenaway Medal, There Is a Tribe of Kids
• 2018 – An ALSC Notable Children's Book, A Perfect Day
• 2018 – A New York Times Best Illustrated Book, A House That Once Was

External links

• Official website
• Lane Smith at IMDb
• Lane Smith at LibraryThing
• Lane Smith at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Lane Smith at Library of Congress, with 54 library catalog records