Holling C. Holling

Holling Clancy Holling (born 1900 in Jackson County, Michigan, died 1973) was an American author and illustrator, best known for the book Paddle-to-the-Sea, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1942.

Holling graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1923. He then worked in the taxidermy department of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and worked in anthropology under Dr. Ralph Linton. He was an art instructor on the first University World Cruise, sponsored by New York University.

Holling's art style was influenced by American Regionalists such as Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood. Using folklore and surprisingly sophisticated memorial structures, he wrote books to teach American history and geography, particularly of its waterways.

His wife, Lucille Webster Holling, worked with him on some of his watercolor illustrations.

[edit] Published works

Paddle-to-the-Sea [1941] A small canoe carved by an Indian boy makes a journey from Lake Superior all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
Tree in the Trail [1942] A cottonwood tree watches the pageant of history on the Santa Fe Trail for over two hundred years.
Seabird (novel) [1948] A carved ivory gull is the mascot for four generations of seafarers aboard a whaler, a clipper ship, a steamer, and an airplane.
Minn of the Mississippi [1951] A turtle hatched at the source of the Mississippi is carried through the heart of America to the Gulf of Mexico.
Pagoo [1957] An intricate study of tide pool life is presented through the story of Pagoo, a hermit crab.