Lillian Hoban (1925-1998) was the illustrator of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas and many other children's books, including five of the six Frances books, which were adapted for television by the Jim Henson Company. Although she attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, she did not begin a career as an artist right away, first teaching modern dance and dancing professionally until she collaborated with author and husband Russell Hoban in the 1960s.