Syd Hoff

Syd Hoff (September 4, 1912 – May 12, 2004) was an American children’s book author and cartoonist.

Syd Hoff wrote and illustrated over 60 volumes in the HarperCollins "I Can Read" series for beginning readers, most notably Sammy the Seal and the popular Danny and the Dinosaur (1958), which has sold 10 million copies and has been translated into a dozen languages.

While Hoff was still in high school, Milt Gross, a popular 1930s cartoonist, told him at an assembly that "Kid, someday you'll be a great cartoonist!" At 16, he enrolled at the National Academy of Design in New York City. At 18, he sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker, and would sell a total of 571 of them to the publication from 1931 to 1975. He drew two long-running syndicated comic strips: Tuffy (1932-1957) and Laugh It Off (1958-1978). He was also the host of a television show, Tales of Hoff, in which he drew and told stories.