Michael J. Smollin

Michael J. Smollin (1925-2010) was an illustrator whose scratchy, distinctive style was one of the defining Sesame art styles in the 1970s, alongside Joe Mathieu and Michael K. Frith. Smollin's first Sesame storybook, the 1971 Little Golden Book The Monster at the End of This Book, was an immediate sensation, selling two million copies in its first year of publication.

Biography

Michael Smollin was born in 1925, and grew up in East Hampton, Long Island. He attended Cornell University, and served in the infantry in World War II. He was awarded a Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds, and returned to the United States to study advertising design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

Smollin worked as an ad executive for many years, but left the industry in order to become a freelance illustrator. He was a frequent contributor to TV Guide, providing humorous illustrations for articles throughout the 1970s and 80s.

Sesame Street work

Smollin provided the artwork for the covers and gatefolds of several early Sesame record albums, including The Muppet Alphabet Album and The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album in 1971, Havin' Fun with Ernie & Bert in 1972 and Merry Christmas from Sesame Street in 1975. Smollin also drew pictures for five Sesame calendars between 1976 and 1982.

Smollin did not participate in any of the "Sesame Street Storybook" anthologies of the early 70s. Instead, the versatile Smollin seemed to specialize in the unusual formats -- the large-format Big Bird's Blunder Book and The Amazing Mumford and His Amazing Subtracting Trick; the rounded Cookie Monster's Circle Book; and a set of small die-cut storybooks published by Playskool in 1975. Smollin illustrated cloth books, waterproof books, small "chunky" books and even books with wheels.

After the success of The Monster at the End of This Book, Smollin and writer Jon Stone collaborated on a few more books featuring Grover, including Would You Like to Play Hide & Seek in This Book With Lovable, Furry Old Grover? and Lovable Furry Old Grover's Resting Places.

Smollin also illustrated several items of Sesame spin-off merchandise, including paper cups, Colorforms playsets, a collectible plate and a toy instrument kit.

Smollin's involvement in Sesame Street illustration tailed off in the mid-80s, although he returned to illustrate two books in the mid-90s -- Mother Grouch Nursery Rhymes in 1995, and Another Monster at the End of This Book in 1996, a sequel to the classic storybook that he illustrated 25 years previously.

In addition to his varied Sesame work, Smollin also worked on a Bob and Ray storybook by Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding, a set of joke books based on The Electric Company, and a set of Strawberry Shortcake storybooks. In 1999 and 2000, Smollin collaborated with his son Mark to create a set of Lego activity books published in Europe. This was Smollin's last professional work before he retired.

Books

The Monster at the End of This Book
(1971)

Big Bird's Blunder Book
(1972)

Cookie Monster's Circle Book
(1972)

The Amazing Mumford and His Amazing Subtracting Trick
(1972)

Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?
(1975)

Count with the Count
(1975)

A Day in the Life of Ernie & Bert
(1975)

Front & Back Book
(1975)

The Sesame Street Pretending Book
(1975)

Where Do You Work & What Do You Do?
(1975)

The Ernie and Bert Coloring Book
(1976)

The In and Out and All About Coloring Book
(1976)

Would You Like to Play Hide & Seek in This Book With Lovable, Furry Old Grover?
(1976)

Big Bird's Red Book
(1977)

The Day the Count Stopped Counting
(1977)

The Great Cookie Thief
(1977)

Good Night Sesame Street
(1978)

Your Friends from Sesame Street
(1979)

Ernie and Bert Can... Can You?
(1982)

Ernie's Bath Book
(1982)

Ernie's Rainy Day Book
(1982)

In & Out, Up & Down
(1982)

The Sesame Street Players Present Mother Goose
(1982)

Ernie & Bert's Delivery Service
(1983)

Lovable Furry Old Grover's Resting Places
(1984)

Goldilocks: Baby Piggy's Dream
(1985)

Mother Grouch Nursery Rhymes
(1995)

Another Monster at the End of This Book
(1996)

Please Do Not Open this Book!
(2006)

Back cover of some Sesame Street Little Golden Books

Other Sesame illustrations

The Muppet Alphabet Album
(1971)

The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album
(1971)

Havin' Fun with Ernie & Bert
(1972)

Ernie and Bert Puppetforms Theater
(1973)

Turn and Tell
1973

Sesame Street Magazine
(1973 - 1982)

Muppet Cuppets
(early 1970s)

Cookie Monster's Colorforms Kitchen
(1974)

Ernie & Bert's Colorforms Playtime
(1974)

1975 Knickerbocker toy catalog

Sesame Street magazine
(June 1975)

Merry Christmas from Sesame Street
(1975)

Sesame Street Look-Inside puzzles
(1975)

The Sesame Street 1976 Calendar

Sesame Street Magic Slates
(1976-1981)

The Sesame Street 1977 Calendar

Countcolorforms1.jpg

The Count's Colorforms Castle
(1977)

Match-Ups games
(1977)

Puzzle (1977)

Puzzle (1977)

Sesame Street 1978 Calendar

10th Anniversary logo

Alternate 10th anniversary logos
1978

Sesame Street Building Blocks
1978

The Sesame Street Calendar: The 1980 World Games

The Sesame Street 1981 Mother Goose Calendar

Collectible plate
(1981)

The Sesame Street Storytime Calendar 1982

Sesame Street Traveling Band
(1982)

TV Guide cover
March 3-9, 1990

External links

• The Books of Michael Smollin
• Mike Smollin Obituary