Marc Simont

Who was Marc Simont?

Marc Simont 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 and in 2002!.

He also illustrated The 13 Clocks, recruited by the writer James Thurber; In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Lord; Top Secret by John Reynolds Gardiner; My Brother, Ant by Betsy Byars; and The Beautiful Planet: ours to lose, which he also wrote.

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".