Nationality American Name Marc Simont Period 1939–2013 Role Artist | ||
 | ||
Born November 23, 1915Paris, France ( 1915-11-23 ) Occupation Artist, cartoonist, illustrator Education Academie Julian, National Academy Museum and School Nominations National Book Award for Children’s Books (Picture Books, Hardcover) Books The Stray Dog, A Tree Is Nice, The Happy Day, The Beautiful Planet: O, Das Orchester zieht sich Similar People Karla Kuskin, Ruth Krauss, Peggy Parish, Randolph Caldecott | ||
Notable awards Caldecott Medal1957 | ||
A Tree Is Nice by Marc Simont
A tree is nice
Marc Simont (November 23, 1915 – July 13, 2013) was a Paris-born American artist, political cartoonist, and illustrator of more than a hundred children's books. Inspired by his father, Spanish painter Joseph Simont, he began drawing at an early age. Simont settled in New York City in 1935 after encouragement from his father, attended the New York National School of Design, and served three years in the military.
Contents
Simont's first illustrated children's book was published in 1939. He won the 1957 Caldecott Medal for U.S. children's book illustration, recognizing A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry, and he was a runner-up both in 1950 (The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss) and in 2002 (The Stray Dog retold by Simont).
He also illustrated The 13 Clocks, recruited by the writer James Thurber (1950); In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Lord (1984); Top Secret by John Reynolds Gardiner (1995); My Brother, Ant by Betsy Byars (1996); and The Beautiful Planet: Ours to Lose, which he also wrote (2010).
Simont and writer Marjorie Sharmat created the boy detective Nate the Great in 1972, and he illustrated the first twenty cases, through 1998. The series has continued with illustrations "in the style of Marc Simont".
One library catalog record for Nate the Great and the Hungry Book Club (Delacorte, 2009) credits "by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Mitchell Sharmat; illustrated by Jody Wheeler in the style of Marc Simont", although the closing explanation is not on the front cover.
As cartoonist for the Lakeville Journal (Connecticut) he won the 2007 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism from Hunter College.
He died at his home in West Cornwall, Connecticut on 13 July 2013 at the age of 97. He is survived by his wife Sara "Bee" Dalton.
Works
All are illustration only, unless otherwise noted.