{{Short description|American illustrator (1948–2026)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox artist | name = Michael Hague | birth_date = {{birth date|1948|9|8}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2026|03|10|1948|09|08}} | death_place = | notable_works = The Wind in the Willows, The Hobbit, Children’s book of Virtues, Alice in Wonderland, The book of Dragons | known_for = Children's book illustrations | image = Michael_Hague.jpg }}
'''Michael Hague''' (September 8, 1948 – March 10, 2026) was an American illustrator, primarily of children's fantasy books.
==Life and career== Among the books he has illustrated classics such as ''The Wind in the Willows'', ''The Wizard of Oz'', ''The Hobbit'' and the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. He is known for the intricate and realistic detail he brought to his work, and the rich colors he chose.
Hague trained at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. He listed his influences as the comics series ''Prince Valiant'' and the works of Disney, Japanese printmakers Hiroshige and Hokusai, and turn of the 20th century illustrators Arthur Rackham, W. Heath Robinson, N. C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle. His first big break came through Trina Schart Hyman, who as an art director for ''Cricket'', gave him several cover art assignments.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2009/11/19/wbbt-michael-hague-interview/|title=WBBT: Michael Hague Interview — @fuseeight A Fuse #8 Production|website=blogs.slj.com|date=19 November 2009|access-date=2020-02-15|archive-date=February 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215172447/http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2009/11/19/wbbt-michael-hague-interview/|url-status=live}}</ref>
He collaborated with family members on some works. In 2008 he and his son, graphic designer Devon Hague, produced the graphic novel ''In the Small''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3104446.Devon_Hague|title=Devon Hague|website=www.goodreads.com|access-date=2020-02-20|archive-date=September 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910125219/https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3104446.Devon_Hague|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=152185 Michael Hague: In the Small]{{dead link|date=July 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, Newsarama, April 1, 2008</ref> He and his wife, author Kathleen Hague, have also collaborated on several books together.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.castlemerebooks.com/WebStore/Michael-Hague-Childrens-Story-Books-Autographed.html|title=Autographed Books by Michael Hague|website=www.castlemerebooks.com|access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://us.macmillan.com/author/|title=Kathleen Hague {{!}} Authors {{!}} Macmillan|website=US Macmillan|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-15|archive-date=June 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617162443/https://us.macmillan.com/author/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.facebook.com/events/hooked-on-books/michael-hague-book-signing/228844467247174/|title=Michael Hague Book Signing|website=m.facebook.com|access-date=2020-02-15|archive-date=February 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215180332/https://m.facebook.com/events/hooked-on-books/michael-hague-book-signing/228844467247174/|url-status=live}}</ref> They lived in Colorado Springs, where he donated time each year to making a poster for the nonprofit arts organization Imagination Celebration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imagination Celebration - CSPM |url=https://www.cspm.org/cos-150-story/imagination-celebration/ |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=www.cspm.org |archive-date=July 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703061019/https://www.cspm.org/cos-150-story/imagination-celebration/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Hague died on March 10, 2026, at the age of 77.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Freeman |first1=John |title=In Memoriam: Illustrator and Graphic Novelist Michael Hague |url=https://downthetubes.net/in-memoriam-illustrator-and-graphic-novelist-michael-hague/ |access-date=15 March 2026 |publisher=Down the Tubes |date=13 March 2026}}</ref>
==Books illustrated== {{hatnote|Taken from Encyclopedia.com.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hague, Michael 1948–|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/hague-michael-1948|access-date=2021-05-19|website=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref>}} * ''Gulliver in Lilliput: A Hallmark Pop-Up Book'' (Hallmark Children’s Editions, 1975)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bird|first=Elizabeth|date=2009-11-19|title=WBBT: Michael Hague Interview|url=http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2009/11/19/wbbt-michael-hague-interview/|access-date=2021-05-19|website=A Fuse #8 Production|language=en-US|archive-date=February 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215172447/http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2009/11/19/wbbt-michael-hague-interview/|url-status=live}}</ref> *''The Cabbage Moth and the Shamrock'' by Ethel Marbach (Green Tiger Press, 1978)<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Marbach |first1=Ethel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2rmAQAACAAJ |title=The Cabbage Moth and the Shamrock |last2=Pochocki |first2=Ethel |date=1991 |publisher=Green Tiger Press |isbn=978-0-671-74864-7 |language=en}}</ref> *''Dream Weaver'' by Jan Yolen (Collins, 1979) *''A Necklace of Fallen Stars'' by Beth Hilgartner (Little, Brown, 1879) *''Beauty and the Beast'' retold by Deborah Apy (Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, 1980) *''Demetrius and the Golden Goblet'' by Eve Bunting (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1980) *''Dragons of Light'' by Orson Scott Card and Dave Smeds (Ace Books, 1980) {{ISBN|0-441-16660-1}} * ''East of the Sun and West of the Moon'' retold by Kathleen and Michael Hague (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980) {{ISBN|0-15-224703-3}} *''Moments: Poems about the Seasons'' edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980) *''A Mouse called Junction'' by Julia Cunningham (Pantheon, 1980) *''The Wind in the Willows'' by Kenneth Grahame (Henry Holt & Co., 1980) * ''The Man Who Kept House'' (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981) *''Michael Hague's Favourite Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales'' by Hans Christian Andersen and Jane S. Woodward (Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, 1981) *''The Night before Christmas'' by Clement C. Moore (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1981) *''The Unicorn and the Lake'' by Marianna Mayer (Dial Books for Young Readers, 1982) *''The Dragon Kite'' by Nancy Luenn (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982) *''The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'' by C.S. Lewis (Macmillan, 1983) *''The Reluctant Dragon'' by Kenneth Grahame (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1983) *''The Velveteen Rabbit'' by Margery Williams (Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, 1983) *''Alphabears: An ABC Book'' by Kathleen Hague (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1984) *''The Frog Princess'' retold by Elizabeth Isle (Thomas Y. Crowell, 1984) * ''The Hobbit'' by J. R. R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin, 1984) *''Mother Goose: A Collection of Classic Nursery Rhymes'' (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1984) *''Rapunzel'' by Jakob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (Creative Education, 1984) *''Aesop's Fables'' (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1985) *''Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland'' by Lewis Carroll (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1985) *''A Child's Book of Prayers'' (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1985) *''The Legend of the Veery Bird'' by Kathleen Hague (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985) *''Numbears: A Counting Book'' by Kathleen Hague (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1986) *''Out of the Nursery, into the Night'' by Kathleen Hague (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1986) * Enchanted World Series ** ''Seekers and Saviors'' (1986), vol. 12 ** ''Fabled Lands'' (1986), vol. 13 * ''Michael Hague's World of Unicorns'' (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1986), revised as ''Michael Hague's Magical World of Unicorns'' (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1999) *''Unicorn Pop-up Book'' (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1986) *''Peter Pan'' by J.M. Barrie (Henry Holt & Co., 1987) *''The Secret Garden'' by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Henry Holt, 1987) *''The Land of Nod, and Other Poems for Children'' by Robert Louis Stevenson (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1988) *''Rootabaga Stories, Part One'' by Carl Sandburg (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988) *''Rootabaga Stories, Part Two'' by Carl Sandburg (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989) *''Bear Hugs'' by Kathleen Hague (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1989) *''Cinderella and Other Tales from Perrault'' (Henry Holt & Co., 1989) *''The Fairies'' by William Allingham (Henry Holt & Co., 1989) *''The Unicorn Alphabet'' by Marianna Mayer (Dial, 1989) *''The Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum (Holt, Rinehart & Winston 1989) *''Old Mother West Wind'' by Thornton W. Burgess (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1990) *''Jingle Bells'' (Henry Holt & Co, 1990) *''Prairie-Town Boy'' by Carl Sandburg [With Joe Krush] (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990) *''My Secret Garden Diary (''Arcade, 1990) *''Magic Moments: A Book of Days (''Arcade, 1990) *''Our Baby: A Book of Records and Memories'' (Arcade, 1990) *''A Unicorn Journal'' (Arcade, 1990) *''The Borrowers'' by Mary Norton (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991) *''The Pilgrim's Regress'' by C. S. Lewis (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.; 1992) *''Michael Hague's Illustrated "The Teddy Bears' Picnic”'' (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1992) *''Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'' (Morrow Junior Books, 1992) *''South Pacific'' retold by James A. Michener (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992) *''The Rainbow Fairy Book'' (Morrow, 1993) *''The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde'' (Michael O’Mara Books, 1993) *''The Little Mermaid'' by Hans Christian Andersen (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1993) *''Little Women'' by Louisa May Alcott (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1993) *''Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear: A Classic Action Rhyme'' (Morrow, 1993) *''Sleep, Baby, Sleep: Lullabies and Night Poems'' (Morrow, 1994) *''The Book of Dragons'' (Morrow, 1995) *''The Children's Book of Virtues'' edited by William J. Bennett (Simon & Schuster, 1995) *''Michael Hague's Family Christmas Treasury'' (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1995) *''The Owl and the Pussy-Cat, and Other Nonsense Poems'' (North-South Books, 1995) *''Michael Hague's Family Easter Treasury'' (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1996) *''The Perfect Present'' (Morrow, 1996) *''The Children’s Book of Heroes'' edited by William J. Bennett (Simon & Schuster, 1997) *''The Story of Doctor Dolittle'' by Hugh Lofting (Books of Wonder, 1997) *''The Children's Book of America'' edited by William J. Bennett (Simon & Schuster, 1998) *''The Twenty-third Psalm: From the King James Bible'' (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1999) *''Ten Little Bears: A Counting Rhyme'' (Morrow, 1999) *''The Book of Fairies'' (HarperCollins, 2000) *''The Children's Treasury of Virtues'' edited by William J. Bennett (Simon & Schuster, 2000) *''The Children's Book of Faith'' edited by William J. Bennett (Doubleday, 2000) *''A Wind in the Willows Christmas'' (SeaStar Books, 2000) *''The Book of Pirates'' (HarperCollins, 2001) *''Kate Culhane, a Ghost Story'' (SeaStar Books, 2001) *''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' by Beatrix Potter (2001) {{ISBN|1-58717-052-3}} * ''The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle'' by Hugh Lofting (Books of Wonder, 2001) *''The Children's Book of Home and Family'' edited by William J. Bennett (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2002) *''Good Night, Fairies'' by Kathleen Hague (SeaStar Books, 2002) *''The Teddy Bears' Picnic'' by Jimmy Kennedy (Henry Holt, 2002) *''The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus'' by L. Frank Baum (Henry Holt, 2003) *''The Nutcracker'' (Chronicle, 2003) *''The Book of Fairy Poetry'' (HarperCollins, 2004) *''Where Fairies Dance (''Harper Collins, 2004'')'' *''Legendary Creatures of Myth and Magic'' by Marianna Mayer (Madison Park Press, 2006) *''Lionel and the Book of Beasts'' by E. Nesbit, retold by Michael Hague (HarperCollins, 2006) *''Animal Friends: A Collection of Poems for Children'' (Henry Holt, 2007) *''Little Bitty Mousie'' by Jim Aylesworth (Walker & Company, 2007) *''The Book of Wizards'' (HarperCollins, 2008) *''In the Small'' (Little, Brown, 2008)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hague |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOVDHAAACAAJ |title=In the Small |date=2008-05-01 |publisher=Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |isbn=978-0-316-01322-2 |language=en}}</ref> *''Irving Berlin’s White Christmas'' (HarperCollins, 2010) *''Michael Hague’s Treasured Classics'' (Chronicle, 2011) *''Michael Hague's Read-to-Me Book of Fairy Tales'' (HarperCollins, 2013)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal |Children's literature |Speculative fiction |Visual arts}} * [https://m.facebook.com/michaelhagueillustrator/ Official Facebook page]: * {{LCAuth|n78085603|Michael Hague|108|}} * {{imdb name|0353837}} * {{discogs artist|Michael Hague}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hague, Michael}} Category:1948 births Category:2026 deaths Category:20th-century American illustrators Category:21st-century American illustrators Category:American comics artists Category:Tolkien artists