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.
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: From a True Story by Reiko Sassa 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 Lakeview Journal (Connecticut) he won the 2007 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism from Hunter College.
He died at his home in in West Cornwall, Connecticut on 13 July 2013 at the age of 97. He is survived by his wife Sara "Bee" Dalton.
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