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 Service ...

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 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" as ''Al ...

in 1962. In 1966,

Bill Mason Bill Mason (1929–1988) was a Canadians, Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker, and conservation movement, conservationist, noted primarily for his popular canoeing books, films, and art as well as his Documentary film, documentaries on ...

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; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

Life and career

Born in

Jackson County, Michigan Jackson County is located in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population of the Counties of the United States, county was 160,366 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its county seat, seat of government is the city of Jackson, Mich ...

, Holling graduated from the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

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 by 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 proces ...

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 educationa ...

in Chicago and spent time working in

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

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 university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. 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 adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

'', 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 ( CMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Rudolph I loses the support of Herbert II, count of Vermandois, who controls the prison at Péronne in which former King ...

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

929 Year 929 ( CMXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 16 – Emir Abd al-Rahman III of Córdoba, Spain, proclaims himself caliph and creates the Caliphate of Córdoba. H ...

* '' Twins Who Flew Around the World''

930 Year 930 ( CMXXX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is established at þingvellir ("Thing Fields"). Chieftains from various tribes gather for ...

* '' Book of Indians''

935 Year 935 ( CMXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Arnulf I ("the Bad") of Bavaria invades Italy, crossing through the Upper Adige (modern Tyrol). He proceeds ...

* '' Book of Cowboys''

936 Year 936 ( CMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday 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 Simple, is crowned King of West Francia afte ...

* '' Little Buffalo Boy''

939 Year 939 ( CMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Hugh the Great, count of Paris, rebels against King Louis IV ("d'Outremer") and gains support from William I, duke of Normandy ...

* '' Paddle-to-the-Sea'' 941A small

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, 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 paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

carved by an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

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 (Roman numerals, CMXLII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – The Hungarian raid in Spain (942), Hungarians invade Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and besiege the f ...

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 of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Hamdanid forces under Sayf al-Dawla raid into Asia Minor. The Byzantines respond with reprisa ...

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 te ...

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 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 ...

. * '' Minn of the Mississippi''

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

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 '' Acherontemys' ...

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 of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * August 10 – Battle of Lechfeld: King Otto I ("the Great") defeats the Hungarians (also known as Magyars) near Augsburg (Germa ...

* '' Pagoo''

957 Year 957 ( CMLVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * September 6 – Liudolf, the eldest son of King Otto I, dies of a violent fever near Pombia (it is rumored from a laten ...

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

hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit c ...

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 model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

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 20th-century 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