Holling Clancy Holling (born Holling Allison Clancy, August 2, 1900 – September 7, 1973) was an American writer and illustrator, best known for the book '' Paddle-to-the-Sea'', which was a

Caldecott Honor Book 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 Servic ...

in 1942. ''Paddle to the Sea'' won the

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books annually by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" ...

in 1962. In 1966,

Bill Mason Bill Mason was a Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker, and conservationist, noted primarily for his popular canoeing books, films, and art as well as his documentaries on wolves. Mason was also known for including passages from Christ ...

directed the Oscar-nominated short film '' Paddle to the Sea'', based on Holling's book, for the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

Life and career

Born in

Jackson County, Michigan Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 160,366 as of the 2020 Census. The county seat is Jackson. The county was set off in 1829 and organized in 1832. It is named for U.S. President Andrew Jackson ...

, Holling graduated from the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

in 1923. A number of his early works were first published by P. F. Volland & Co. He worked in a

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...

department of the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

in Chicago and spent time working in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

under Dr. Ralph Linton. During this period, he married Lucille Webster and within a year of their marriage accepted a position as art instructor on the first University World Cruise, sponsored by

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. For many years, Holling dedicated much of his time and interest to making books for children. Much of the material he used was known to him firsthand. His wife, Lucille, worked with him on many of the illustrations.

Honors and awards

He was a runner-up for the Caldecott Medal in 1942 for ''Paddle-to-the-Sea''. He received the Commonwealth Club of California Literature Award in 1948 for ''

Seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

'', which was also a runner-up for the

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

in 1949. He was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal again in 1952 for '' Minn of the Mississippi''. With his wife, Lucille, he received the Southern California Council on Literature Award in 1961 for '' Pagoo.''''Twentieth-Century Children's Writers''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1978. V. 78.

Published works

* ''Sun and Smoke, A Book of New Mexico'', Holling Clancy Holling, 1923. * '' Little Big Bye-and-Bye''. P. F. Volland Co., 1926. * '' Rum Tum Tummy: The Elephant Who Ate''. Buzza Co., 1927. * '' Claws of the Thunderbird''. P. F. Volland Co., 1928. * With Gordon Volland. ''The Rollaway Twins and Their Famous World Flight: A Complete News-Reel''. Minneapolis: Buzza Company, 1928. * '' Rocky Billy''

928 Year 928 (Roman numerals, CMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Rudolph of France, Rudolph I loses the support of Herbert II, Count of ...

* '' Choo-Me-Shoo'' Buzza Co., 1928. * '' Children of Other Lands''

929 Year 929 ( CMXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 16 – Emir Abd-al-Rahman III of Córdoba proclaims himself caliph and create ...

* '' Twins Who Flew Around the World'' 930* '' Book of Indians''

935 Year 935 ( CMXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Arnulf I ("the Bad") of Bavaria invades Italy, crossing through the Upper ...

* '' Book of Cowboys''

936 Year 936 ( CMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * June 19 – At Laon, Louis IV, the 14-year old son of the late King Charles the Simp ...

* '' Little Buffalo Boy'' 939* '' Paddle-to-the-Sea'' 941A small

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

carved by an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

boy makes a journey from Lake Superior all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The book won a

Caldecott Honor 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 ...

. * '' Tree in the Trail''

942 Year 942 ( CMXLII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – The Hungarians invade Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and besiege the fortress ...

A cottonwood tree watches the pageant of history on the Santa Fe Trail for over two hundred years. * ''

948 Year 948 ( CMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Hamdanid forces under Sayf al-Dawla raid into Asia Minor ...

scrimshaw Scrimshaw is scrollwork, engravings, and carvings done in bone or ivory. Typically it refers to the artwork created by whalers, engraved on the byproducts of whales, such as bones or cartilage. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth ...

ivory gull is the mascot for four generations of seafarers aboard a whaler, a clipper ship, a steamer, and an airplane. The book won a

Newbery Honor Newbery is a surname. People *Chantelle Newbery (born 1977), Australian Olympic diver *David Newbery (born 1943), British economist *Eduardo Newbery (1878–1908), Argentine odontologist and aerostat pilot *Francis Newbery (disambiguation), seve ...

. * '' Minn of the Mississippi''

951 Year 951 ( CMLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Berengar II of Italy seizes Liguria, with help from the feudal lord Oberto I. He re ...

snapping turtle The Chelydridae is a family of turtles that has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are the snapping turtles, ''Chelydra'' and '' Macrochelys''. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere. The extinct genera are '' Acherontem ...

hatched at the source of the Mississippi is carried through the heart of America to the Gulf of Mexico. The book won a

. * '' A World Is Born''

955 Year 955 ( CMLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * August 10 – Battle of Lechfeld: King Otto I ("the Great") defeats the Hungarians (also ...

* '' Pagoo'' 957An intricate study of tide pool life is presented through the story of Pagoo, a

hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an a ...

The World Museum

Holling wrote and illustrated a full-page Sunday comic strip titled '' The World Museum''. Each strip included a

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

which could be cut out and assembled into a 3-D scene of, for example, a buffalo hunt or an undersea panorama.

References

Bibliography

*Gale Research Company, and Thomson Gale (Firm). ''Something About the Author''. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1971. V. 15 & v.26. *Twentieth-Century Children's Writers. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1978. V. 78.

External links

Guide to the Holling Clancy Holling papers at the University of Oregon

Guide to the Holling Clancy Holling papers at the University of California Los Angeles
* (including 4 "from old catalog") {{DEFAULTSORT:Holling, Holling C. 1900 births 1973 deaths American illustrators Newbery Honor winners School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni People from Jackson County, Michigan Writers from Michigan American comic strip cartoonists Artists from Michigan