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.
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Biography
Smith was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on August 25, 1959. At a young age he moved to Corona, California, and returned to Tulsa during the summers on Route 66, where he later drew aesthetic inspiration for his work, which combines highbrow and lowbrow elements. Smith was artistic from an early age and stated that he "can never remember a time when I didn’t draw". At age seven, his uncle Orlin encouraged his artistic talents, praising Smith's doodles to his parents. At the encouragement of his high school art teacher, Dan Baughman, Smith studied at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
To help pay tuition, Smith worked as a janitor at Disneyland. In addition, Smith's illustrations appeared in alternative newspapers including L.A. Weekly, L.A. Reader and for the punk magazine No Mag while he was a student. In 1983, Smith illustrated album covers for the band Oingo Boingo (Good For Your Soul) and The Dickies (Stukas Over Disneyland). In 1983, he graduated from Art Center with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration.
After graduation, Smith 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.
Children's books
Smith is most noted for his work on bestselling and award-winning children's books. He collaborated with writer Jon Scieszka on award-winning and bestselling picture books between 1989 and 2007. Their two most popular books, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! (1989) and The Stinky Cheese Man (1992), have been ranked among the 100 best picture books of all time by TIME magazine and School Library Journal. Smith also illustrated nine of Scieszka's The Time Warp Trio novels. He and Scieszka were introduced by their wives, Molly Leach and Jeri Hansen, in the late 1980s.
Smith has also 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.
As an author–illustrator, he has published books including It's a Book (2010), a New York Times bestseller for six months that has been translated into more than 28 languages. Others include 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 and was named a "best book of the year" by the Washington Post.
Art style
Smith illustrations are known for their experimental and textual nature, and are created with a variety of media, including oil paint, pen and ink, pencil, watercolor, collage and digital tools. A 2017 exhibit at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art featured a statement from Smith that praised the art of Alice and Martin Provensen for being unconventional and inconsistent:
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.
Film and television
He illustrated an edition of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, and was a 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.
Personal life
Smith is married to the graphic designer Molly Leach, who has designed many award-winning books, including nearly all books Smith has published. They lived in New York City for 30 years, before moving to rural Connecticut around the early 2020s. Smith is happiest when he is working on a book ("everything is rosy, the future is all promise") and struggles with sadness after publication.
Smith has described himself as "very optimistic about pretty much everything", a quality he described as "annoying". In one instance, he repeatedly praised the weather during a walk with his 90-year-old mother-in-law, who responded, 'If you say that one more time I am going to hit you with this cane.'"
Books
Some listings may not be first editions.
As illustrator
Written by Jon Scieszka
Smith has also illustrated some installments of Scieszka's The Time Warp Trio series of novels.
By other writers