Rest in Peace, Russell Hoban: What you meant to us.

Russell Hoban has died. Without hesitation I can say he was a major influence on me as a young reader. He authored the first series I ever followed with Frances the badger as the main character. Lillian Hoban’s kinetic illustrations made the stories even more real to me. My mother got me a tea set so that I could pretend to be in A Bargain for Frances. Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas (the book) made me feel so happy for my talented and generous otter friends and when Jim Henson turned it into a TV special, I was sent into conniptions of joy (much to my much older brothers’ dismay) every time it was on.

And now, as a children’s librarian, it makes me so happy that kids naturally gravitate to Hoban’s stories. When I got my Frances tattoo, I expected adults from my generation would be the ones to recognize it but I was surprised to find that kids stop me on the street and point and say: “It’s Frances! I read her books!”

Hoban also wrote utterly charming books for adults, as well as the great post-apocalyptic novel Riddley Walker – and one book – The Mouse and His Child – that defies easy categorization, so childlike in its wonder yet worldy-wise in its observations on the human folly and corruption.

So tell us, are you a Russell Hoban fan? What did he mean to you?”