At age 14, she started classes at the Graphic Sketch Club where she met her husband and collaborator Russell Hoban.
After getting married and settling in New York City, Hoban gave up art to study dance at the Hanya Holm School.
[3] She danced professionally and did choreography on a musical show called Tropical Holiday that aired live on Saturday nights when, according to Hoban, television was in its infancy.
The character of Frances was inspired by the Hoban's next door neighbors in Norwalk, CT whose daughter found multiple ways of putting off her bedtime.
[5] The original illustrations of Frances as a vole can be found in the Lillian Hoban Collection at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.
Hoban used expressive body postures and facial gestures to capture the emotions of the characters and give them an authentic, true to life quality.
[7] The theme that runs through all of the Frances books, and much of the Hobans' collaboration, is that problems can be resolved with just a little bit of thought and creativity.
The feeling of a close, supportive, and loving family that is depicted through the illustrations and stories, according to Russell, is one of the reasons that the books have met with such widespread approval of readers and professionals.
Another reason the author cites for the popularity of the series is that, beginning with the second Frances book, the title character creates and sings songs to express her emotions.
The books tell the humorous and heartwarming tale of a mean-spirited family that discovers the contagiousness of a good feeling and niceness.
Her son, Brom, devised a scheme to bake clay cookies, decorate them, and sell them for ornaments around the neighborhood to make money to buy Christmas gifts.
Arthur's Honey Bear (1974) was also inspired by Hoban's experience with her own children who, along with the neighborhood kids, began selling their toys to each other.
The activity led to a 2:00 am phone call from a concerned father who offered fifty dollars for Scooby-Doo because his son could not sleep without his security toy.
[7] Other popular titles written by Lillian Hoban in the I-Can-Read format include the Tilly the Mole and Mr.
Hoban illustrated the Riverside Kids series written by Johanna Hurwitz that explores growing up in an apartment in the heart of New York City.
Hoban kicked off this very dynamic period with a small picture book entitled Harry's Song, her ode to the arts.
It tells the story of Harry Rabbit who sits on a rock and sings his songs of summer under the darkening shadow of a fall day while the animals around him prepare for winter.
In classic Hoban fashion, Sammy finds a creative resolution as he gives up his blanket to help hatch his new baby sibling.
[10] In a departure from the themes of childhood she so often explored during her career, Hoban captured the endearing charm of an elderly woman who cannot seem to remember anything in the Silly Tilly books.
In 1965 Hoban was commissioned, along with Robert Krauss and Anita Lobel, to create oversized posters for the various holidays to display in school libraries and classrooms.
The Amy Loves series written by her daughter Julia portrays a child's joy at experiencing the changing seasons.
Although she did not collaborate with Brom on any of these books, Hoban encouraged him to write from personal experience after reading some of his early attempts that included fantasy plots and monsters.
[7] Being raised in a family that valued reading, Hoban's interest in books and illustration started at an early age.
[2] Hoban's parents also encouraged her interest in drawing by taking her to museums, buying her art supplies and eventually enrolling her in the Graphic Sketch Club.
From third grade on, every Thursday afternoon she went to a special drawing class with other children who had been selected from elementary schools around Philadelphia.
This process created many a humorous moment for her small children when they would sneak into her home studio and find their mother making faces in the mirror.