Born in Jackson County, Michigan, Holling graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1923.
He received the Commonwealth Club of California Literature Award in 1948 for Seabird, which was also a runner-up for the Newbery Medal in 1949.
With his wife, Lucille, he received the Southern California Council on Literature Award in 1961 for Pagoo.
[2] Holling wrote and illustrated a full-page Sunday comic strip titled The World Museum.
Each strip included a diorama which could be cut out and assembled into a 3-D scene of, for example, a buffalo hunt or an undersea panorama.