Eric Hill, author and illustrator of the simple but beloved picture books about a mischievous puppy named Spot, has died at his home in California. He was 86.
In announcing Hill’s death June 6, Don Weisberg, president of Penguin Young Readers Group, said Tuesday that Hill “created one of today’s most iconic children’s book characters and changed the landscape of children’s book design with his now ubiquitous lift-the-flap design.”
He added that “Spot has entertained and educated generations of preschoolers, a fact that gave Eric much joy. He was very fond of Spot, and we are forever grateful for his contribution to children’s books.”
Since his 1980 debut, Where’s Spot?, Hill’s picture books have sold more than 60 million copies around the world, according to Penguin. The popularity of his books led in 1983 to an animated series, “The Adventures of Spot,” which used a unique cut-paper technique to build up the movement of the characters while keeping the integrity of the original drawings.
In a statement, Penguin’s editor at large, Margaret Frith, recalled meeting the character Spot in London, the week before the Bologna Book Fair in 1979: “It was ‘love at first sight,’ and the beginning of a long friendship with Eric and that lovable puppy who became every young child’s best ‘buddy’ as Eric liked to call him. Eric had an unerring understanding of Spot and his 2- and 3-year-old audience.”
Hill, who often referred to himself simply as “Spot’s Dad,” was born on Sep. 7, 1927, in north London and was evacuated, along with thousands of other British children, to the countryside during World War II. Later, he worked in advertising before writing and designing a book about a puppy for his son, Christopher, who was then 3 years old.
Hill and his second wife, Gillian, moved to the USA in the early 1980s, first to Arizona, then California.
In 2008, Hill was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Penguin noted that Hill is survived by Gillian, Christopher and his daughter, Jane, “all of whom are involved in looking after Spot.”
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