Arnold Lobel

Arnold Lobel
Born	May 22, 1933 (1933-05-22) Los Angeles, California
Died	December 4, 1987(1987-12-04) (aged 54) Manhattan, New York
Occupation	Children's author, illustrator
Language	English
Nationality	American
Notable work(s)	Frog and Toad series, Mouse Soup, Prince Bertram the Bad
Notable award(s)	Caldecott Medal, Caldecott Honor, Garden State Children's Book Award
Spouse(s)	Anita Kempler
Children	Adrianne Lobel, Adam Lobel

Arnold Stark Lobel (May 22, 1933 – December 4, 1987) was an American author of children's books, including the Frog and Toad series, and Mouse Soup, which won the Garden State Children's Book Award from the New Jersey Library Association. Lobel won the 1981 Caldecott Medal for his book Fables, and Caldecott Honor, or runner up, awards for Frog and Toad are Friends in 1971, and Hildilid's Night in 1972.

Lobel also illustrated the works of other authors, including Sam the Minuteman by Nathaniel Benchley, first published in 1969.

He was born in Los Angeles, California, to Lucille Stark and Joseph Lobel, but was raised in Schenectady, New York. When he graduated from art school, he married Anita Kempler, also a children's book author and illustrator, and they moved to New York City. He had two children: a daughter, Adrianne, who is married to actor Mark Linn-Baker; a son, Adam; and three grandchildren.

Lobel died of complications arising from AIDS on December 4, 1987, at Doctors Hospital (Manhattan, New York).

In 2009, Adrianne Lobel started releasing some of her father's archive material in the form of new books, with added watercolors by herself. The Frogs and Toads All Sang was released in May 2009, and Odd Owls and Stout Pigs was released in October 2009.

Selected works

• Prince Bertram the Bad (1963)
• A Holiday for Mister Muster (1963)
• Giant John (1964)
• Lucille (1964)
• The Bears of the Air (1966)
• Martha the Movie Mouse (1966)
• The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and Her(1968)
• The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments (1968)
• Small Pig (1969)
• Ice-Cream Cone Coot, and Other Rare Birds (1971)
• On the Day Peter Stuyvesant Sailed Into Town (1971)
• Owl at Home (1975)
• Grasshopper on the Road (1978)
• A Treeful of Pigs (1979)
• Fables (1980) (A Caldecott Medal winner)
• Uncle Elephant (1981)
• Ming Lo Moves the Mountain (1982)
• The Book of Pigericks: Pig Limericks (1983)
• The Rose in My Garden (1984)
• Whiskers & Rhymes (1985)
• The Frogs and Toads All Sang (2009) (with, daughter, Adrianne Lobel)
• Odd Owls and Stout Pigs: A Book of Nonsense (2009) (with Adrianne Lobel)

Frog and Toad series

A series of books featuring Frog and Toad

• Frog and Toad are Friends (1970)
• Frog and Toad Together (1972)
• Frog and Toad All Year (1976)
• Days with Frog and Toad (1979)

The 2002 musical A Year with Frog and Toad played on Broadway in 2003 and has toured nationally since. Frog and Toad All Sang (2009) was released by Lobel's daughter from his archive collection. She did the watercolors for this book.

Mister Muster series

Featuring Arnold Lobel's first self-written and illustrated book

• A Zoo for Mister Muster (1962)
• A Holiday for Mister Muster (1963)

Mouse series

• Mouse Tales (1972)
• Mouse Soup (1977) (Garden State Children's Book Award winner)

Books illustrated for other authors

• Happy Times with Holiday Rhymes (1958) by Tamar Grand
• My First Book of Prayers (1958) by Edythe Scharfstein, Sol Scharfstein, and Ezekiel Schloss
• The Book of Chanukah Poems, Riddles, Stories, Songs, Things to Do (1959) by Edythe Scharfstein and Ezekial Schloss
• The Complete Book of Hanukkah (1959) by Kinneret Chiel
• Holidays are Nice: Around the Year with the Jewish Child (1960) by Robert Garvey and Ezekiel Schloss
• Red Tag Comes Back (1961) by Fred Phleger
• Something Old Something New (1961) by Susan Rhinehart
• Little Runner of the Longhouse (1962) by Betty Baker
• The Secret Three (1963) by Mildred Myrick
• Miss Suzy (1964) by Miriam Young
• Dudley Pippin (1965) by Phil Ressner
• The Witch on the Corner (1966) by Felice Holman
• The Star Thief (1968) by Andrea DiNoto
• Ants Are Fun (1969) by Mildred Myrick
• I'll Fix Anthony (1969) by Judith Viorst
• As I Was Crossing Boston Common (1973) by Norma Farber

Books illustrated for Millicent E. Selsam

A series of Science I Can Read Books all written by Millicent E. Selsam and illustrated by Arnold Lobel:

• Greg's Microscope (1963)
• Terry and the Caterpillars (1963)
• Let's Get Turtles (1965)
• Benny's Animals and How He Put Them in Order (1966)

Books illustrated for Jack Prelutsky

Books that Arnold Lobel illustrated for Jack Prelutsky:

• The Terrible Tiger (1970)
• Circus (1974)
• Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep (1976)
• The Mean Old Mean Hyena (1978)
• The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight: More Poems to Trouble Your Sleep (1980)
• The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (1983)
• Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast: Dinosaur Poems (1988)

Books illustrated for Nathaniel Benchley

Books that Arnold Lobel illustrated for Nathaniel Benchley:

• Red Fox and His Canoe (1964)
• Oscar Otter (1966)
• The Strange Disappearance of Arthur Cluck (1967)
• Sam the Minuteman (1969)

Books illustrated for Peggy Parish

Books that Arnold Lobel illustrated for Peggy Parish:

• Let's Be Indians (1962)
• Let's Be Early Settlers with Daniel Boone (1967)
• Dinosaur Time (1974)

Books illustrated for Lilian Moore

Books that Arnold Lobel illustrated for Lilian Moore:

• The Magic Spectacles and Other Easy-to-Read Stories (1965)
• Junk Day on Juniper Street and Other Easy-to-Read Stories (1969)

Books illustrated for Edward Lear

Books that Arnold Lobel illustrated for Edward Lear:

• The Four Little Children Who Went Around the World (1968)
• The New Vestments (1970)

Books illustrated for Charlotte Zolotow

Books that Arnold Lobel illustrated for Charlotte Zolotow:

• The Quarreling Book (1963)
• Someday (1965)

Books illustrated for Jean van Leeuwen

Books that Arnold Lobel illustrated for Jean van Leeuwen:

• Tales of Oliver Pig (1979)
• More Tales of Oliver Pig (1981)

References

• Hearn, Michael (January 10, 1988), "Arnold Lobel: An Appreciation" (ProQuest), The Washington Post 
• Shannon, George. Arnold Lobel. Boston: Twayne, 1989.