Simms Taback

“Pete Seeger of Children’s Books”

If there were ever an illustrator whose life was as colorful as his art, it was Simms Taback.

Taback was born on February 13, 1932, in The Bronx, New York. He attended LaGuardia High School—the same school made famous by the 1980 film, Fame.

At a time when Abstract Expressionism was all the rage, Taback was “lambasted” at Cooper Union for his more direct, naive art style. After graduating from Cooper with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1953, Taback began working as a commercial artist.

The road to stardom had its share of bumps for Taback. In 1964, he illustrated his first book, Jabberwocky and Other Frabjous Nonsense, for editor, Harlan Quist. Quist fled to Europe, and took Taback’s royalties with him.

He later illustrated Thump, Thump, Thump for Mister Rogers. On the day that Taback submitted four months-worth of artwork, Mister Rogers cancelled the project.