Russell Hoban

Russell Hoban

Russell Conwell Hoban was born February 4, 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the Army at age 18 and served in the Philippines and Italy as a radio operator during World War II. After the war, he worked as an illustrator (painting several covers for TIME magazine) and an advertising copywriter, before writing and illustrating his first children's book, What Does It Do and How Does It Work.

Shortly after writing his first full-length novel, The Mouse and His Child, he moved to London in 1969 with his first wife (illustrator Lillian Hoban, who collaborated on his successful children's books about Frances the Badger), intending to stay only a short time. But following the breakup of their marriage, he remained in London and has lived there ever since. Most of his adult novels are set in whole or part in contemporary London.

Hoban is often described as a fantasy writer; only two of his novels, Turtle Diary and The Bat Tattoo, are entirely devoid of supernatural elements. Many of his novels could also be considered romances, following the development of a relationship between two characters who often take turns as narrators, bonding over some common obsession or artistic interest.

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25 Items found
Arthur's New Power
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Byron Barton
1st edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Baby Sister for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Scholastic Inc.
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Baby Sister for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Atlas Editions
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Baby Sister for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Bargain for Frances
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$5.99
Bedtime for Frances
by Russell Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Bedtime for Frances
by Russell Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Bedtime for Francis
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Best Friends for Frances RUC
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Birthday for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Birthday for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Scholastic Inc.
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Bread and Jam for Frances
I Can Read! Level 2
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
Bread and Jam for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Bread and Jam for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperFestival
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Egg Thoughts and Other Frances Songs
by Hoban, Russell Hoban
revised from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
by Russell Hoban
First Edition from Parents Magazine Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Frances Collection
by Russell Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$45.84
Harvey's Hideout
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Parents Magazine Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Harvey's Hideout
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from Four Winds Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
How Tom Beat Captain Najork
by Russell Hoban
from David R. Godine
for 1st-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.95
Marzipan Pig
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Quentin Blake
from New York Review of Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Mole Family's Christmas
by Russell Hoban
from Parents Magazine Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Mouse and His Child
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by David Small
from Arthur A. Levine Books
for 4th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$19.99
Nothing to Do
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban
from Harper & Row
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Russell Hoban, afterword by Clifton Fadiman
4th printing, 1967 from Macmillan
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)