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As a child
Russell Hoban was born in Pennsylvania, USA. His parents were Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine; his father was the advertising manager of a Jewish newspaper as well as a dram guild director. Russell was thus exposed to the arts early on, and became interested in writing at an early age, winning prizes for his stories and poems during his school years.
As an adult
Russell served in the US Infantry during WWII. For a time he taught art in New York and Connecticut. He then worked as a freelance illustrator and an advertising copywriter. He began publishing children's books in 1958, and since then has published more than fifty. His picture book The Sea-Thing Child, illustrated by Patrick Benson, was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Russell passed away at the age of 86 in 2011.
Quentin Blake’s wonderfully airy and energetic illustrations perfectly match this quirky fantasy by that other master, Russell Hoban. A little boy called John accidentally finds a dragon beneath a manhole cover in a busy street. The passers-by take no notice of him, not even when he meets up with the dragon at an underground station. They have a couple of fights – as agreed – and when John wins, Ace takes him flying. When Ace runs out of petrol, the two are stranded on a moon before John works out a way to get back home, using another of Ace’s special skills. Funny and offbeat, it’s a lovely story of friendship and independence. ~ Andrea Reece
Quentin Blake’s wonderfully airy and energetic illustrations perfectly match this quirky fantasy by that other master, Russell Hoban. A little boy called John accidentally finds a dragon beneath a manhole cover in a busy street. The passers-by take no notice of him, not even when he meets up with the dragon at an underground station. They have a couple of fights – as agreed – and when John wins, Ace takes him flying. When Ace runs out of petrol, the two are stranded on a moon before John works out a way to get back home, using another of Ace’s special skills. Funny and offbeat, it’s a lovely story of friendship and independence. ~ Andrea Reece
Russell Hoban's moving, unflinching tale of a boy who finds bravery during illness is dramatically reimagined in graphic-novel format with new art by Alexis Deacon.
Shortlisted for the 2015 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Jim is in hospital. He's frightened. What if the doctors send him somewhere that he can't find his way back from? Nurse Bami tells Jim that he must go to his good place and there, his finder will come looking for him. Everyone has a finder. And so, deep in Jim's dreams, he finds his: a lion. In Soonchild, Russell Hoban's final piece of fiction before he died, Alexis Deacon met the spirit and wit of Hoban's vision head-on - brilliantly capturing the dark magic that lay at the heart of this fable. Since then, it feels almost impossible to imagine a better match for Hoban's words than Alexis' art.
Award-winning duo Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake are brilliantly witty in this sharply observed picture of the value of childhood pursuits. Orphaned Tom lives with his formidable aunt who takes no nonsense from anyone and serves perfectly disgusting food. Tom pays her little heed. He likes to fool around, mostly outside in squelchy stuff or up high on dangerous structures. To his aunt, it looks suspiciously as if he is just playing. To make Tom conform, she brings along Captain Najork and his Hired Sportsmen, a team famed for their skill at playing hard games. Whatever can Tom do next? How Tom wins is a celebration of child-power.
Tom is back for a second fooling-around adventure. When Tom, accompanied by his Aunt Bundlejoy, sets out on a jaunt in a jam-powered frog, Captain Najork and his hired sportsmen set out in hot pursuit in a pedal-powered snake. They are determined for revenge! Tom is running out of jam power but luckily there’s a girl’s boarding school not far off where more amazing and absurd events take place including a ferocious arm-wrestling match!
Former Children’s Laureate Quentin Blake team up for this hugely original weather-based fantasy. It’s a hot, hot summer Thursday when Harry hears the rag-and-bone man calling out “Rainy numbers up. Any thunder up?” Not knowing what any of it might mean, Harry follows the cart through the rain door and out into the strange world of weather. Quentin Blake makes hot and cold weather beautiful and tangible.
John loves drawing monsters. Red monsters. Purple monsters. Spotted monsters. Furry monsters. Any kind of monster. And then he draws just a monster’s tail. And that takes up four big pieces of paper….Can John control his monsters? Of course, the adults think that he can but what if he can’t? A potentially threatening story is wittily told in words and pictures by Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake.
A must-read for anyone who thinks that fooling about is a waste of time! Through the brilliant combination of Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake, the story celebrates all the skills that children learn on their own. Tom likes nothing more than messing about whether it is sliding in the mud, wobbling about on high and dangerous things, dropping things from bridges and fishing them out or rolling around in barrels in alleys. His aunt disapproves of all such activities and threatens him with Captain Najork and his Hired Sportsmen who are known to be able to knock anyone into shape. But it turns out that Tom has learnt some things after all…as the title reveals!
An enchanting and magical story richly illustrated by former Children’s Laureate Quentin Blake. Rosie collects old ice lolly sticks. Without any lolly left what is the point? Luckily, the sticks themselves work out a reason and form themselves into a wonderful horse. In Quentin Blake’s illustrations the prancing lolly stick horses gallop across cities and jungles and over oceans and deserts on the quest for pirates and their gold. Quentin Blake's hallmark illustration style breathes energy and mischeviousness into something as small and ordinary as a disused ice-lolly stick. If an ice-lolly stick can be a horse...then YOU can be anything you wish to be!
ONE OF JULIA ECCLESHARE'S TOP 10 OF 2012 Children’s Laureate Quentin Blake and best-selling author Russell Hoban have created an entrancing magical and lyrical fantasy that’s perfect for anyone who can share the dream of a magical adventure. A discarded lolly stick dreams of being something BIG…Luckily, it is picked up by Rosie, a little girl who already has a whole collection of lolly sticks. Soon she and all the lolly sticks are off on a rollicking adventure with the important task of raising money for her family. A delightfully quirky story that allows imaginations soar. Quentin Blake's hallmark illustration style breathes energy and mischeviousness into something as small and ordinary as a disused ice-lolly stick. If an ice-lolly stick can be a horse...then YOU can be anything you wish to be! This beautiful edition is jacketed.
Shortlisted for the 2012 Guardian children's fiction prize. Award winning Russell Hoban has written a lyrical story of magic and wonder that begs to be read and re-read as the mysterious story unravels. Deep, deep in the heart of the frozen north a shaman and his wife are expecting their first baby. But Soonchild doesn’t want to come out. It lies like a stone in its mother's belly; it never kicks or moves and yet the mother knows that it is alive. Finally, the baby speaks…Can its Shaman father do what is necessary to unlock the singing of the world and so encourage the baby to be born? Alexis Deacon captures the frozen world and the magic and mystery that lie at the heart of it.
So begins the story of a tin father and son who dance under a Christmas tree until they break the ancient clockwork rules and are themselves broken. Thrown away, then rescued from a dustbin and repaired by a tramp, they set out on a dangerous quest for a family and a place of their own.
There is, said the marzipan pig, such sweetness in me! From the inimitable team of Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake, the pair behind Captain Najork and The Twenty Elephant Restaurant, comes an enchanting story of a little pig made of marzipan. Fallen behind the sofa, nobody hears the lost marzipan pig's cries for help. And, after many months, a mouse discovers him and eats him up, having never known such sweetness. But a longing to be loved passes from the marzipan pig to the mouse ... and so begins a curious chain of events featuring a dancing owl, a glowing taxi meter, a buzzing bee and a pinky-orange hibiscus flower - all triggered by the little lost marzipan pig. Each encounter more wonderful and more romantic than the last, just how far will the marzipan's sweetness travel?
From the inimitable team of Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake, the pair behind Captain Najork and The Twenty Elephant Restaurant, comes an enchanting story of a little pig made of marzipan. Fallen behind the sofa, nobody hears the lost marzipan pig's cries for help. And, after many months, a mouse discovers him and eats him up, having never known such sweetness. But a longing to be loved passes from the marzipan pig to the mouse ... and so begins a curious chain of events featuring a dancing owl, a glowing taxi meter, a buzzing bee and a pinky-orange hibiscus flower - all triggered by the little lost marzipan pig. Each encounter more wonderful and more romantic than the last, just how far will the marzipan's sweetness travel?
Quentin Blake’s wonderfully airy and energetic illustrations perfectly match this quirky fantasy by that other master, Russell Hoban. A little boy called John accidentally finds a dragon beneath a manhole cover in a busy street. The passers-by take no notice of him, not even when he meets up with the dragon at an underground station. They have a couple of fights – as agreed – and when John wins, Ace takes him flying. When Ace runs out of petrol, the two are stranded on a moon before John works out a way to get back home, using another of Ace’s special skills. Funny and offbeat, it’s a lovely story of friendship and independence. ~ Andrea Reece
Funny, thought-provoking and moving, this much loved story is a true classic. 'What are we, Papa?' the toy mouse child asked his father. 'I don't know,' the father answered. 'We must wait and see.' So begins the story of a tin father and son who dance under a Christmas tree until they break the ancient clockwork rules and are themselves broken. Thrown away, then rescued from a dustbin and repaired by a tramp, they set out on a dangerous quest for a family and a place of their own - the magnificent doll's house, the plush elephant and the tin seal they had once know in the toy shop. 'Hugely funny, provocative, pathetic and heroic.' TLS 'Brilliantly plotted . . . a spellbinder . . . it has a style that glows and crackles.' Spectator
The inimitable duo of Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake tell a hilarious romp that begins with a wobbly table ... and ends with a bunch of dancing elephants! In this completely hilarious and gloriously absurd story, the pair behind the tales of Captain Najork explore just what happens when a man builds a new table ... a table sturdy enough for even an elephant to dance on. This table, said the man. What about the table? said the woman. It's wearing me out, said the man. What to do? The man makes a decision. He finds a tablewood tree, cuts it down, saws it up and makes a new table. There's nothing like a new table. This one is strong enough for elephants! But... Where would we get the elephants? said the woman. Advertise in the Classified Section, said the man. Elephants wanted for table work. Must be agile. It looks as if the man and the woman might need some more tables! We could open a restaurant, said the man. A restaurant with dancing elephants ... where will it all lead?!
Quentin Blake’s wonderfully airy and energetic illustrations perfectly match this quirky fantasy by that other master, Russell Hoban. A little boy called John accidentally finds a dragon beneath a manhole cover in a busy street. The passers-by take no notice of him, not even when he meets up with the dragon at an underground station. They have a couple of fights – as agreed – and when John wins, Ace takes him flying. When Ace runs out of petrol, the two are stranded on a moon before John works out a way to get back home, using another of Ace’s special skills. Funny and offbeat, it’s a lovely story of friendship and independence. ~ Andrea Reece
Another classic from Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake, featuring a jam-powered frog and an eccentric headmistress ... as nutty and compulsive as ever. A Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake classic, and a brilliant companion volume to How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen, this is the story of Tom who invents a jam-powered frog. Fooling around as he loves to do, Tom takes his Aunt Bundlejoy Cosysweet out on the frog out for a spin. When Captain Najork sees them hopping past his window, he and his hired sportsmen jump into their pedal-powered snake and set off in hot pursuit. Events, adventure and sheer craziness conspire to bring Tom and the Captain together at the local girls' boarding school, where Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong Najork is in the middle of a best-of-three arm-wrestling contest against the Headmistress... A rip-roaring adventure guaranteed to keep the pages turning and the laughs bouncing off the ceiling!
Russell Hoban's moving, unflinching tale of a boy who finds bravery during illness is dramatically reimagined in graphic-novel format with new art by Alexis Deacon.
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