Illustrating Samantha's World

If you stumble across a copy of Meet Samantha at a used bookstore, you might open it up to find that Samantha and her friends look a little different than you remember.

Readers who first fell in love with Samantha in the 80s and 90s probably remember the covers of her books looking like this:

Meet Samantha cover, Nancy Niles — Original parchment-box covers — Nancy Niles (books 1–5), Luann Roberts (book 6)

Samantha Learns a Lesson cover, Nancy Niles — Original parchment-box covers — Nancy Niles (books 1–5), Luann Roberts (book 6)

Starting in 1998, the books were printed with new covers that looked almost identical. I’ve noticed that many people don’t realize there's a difference until they see them side-by-side.

Meet Samantha cover, Dan Andreasen — 1998 parchment-box covers — Dan Andreasen

Samantha Learns a Lesson cover, Dan Andreasen — 1998 parchment-box covers — Dan Andreasen

It’s easy to confuse the two versions. This wasn’t a full re-design with brand new art. Instead, American Girl commissioned a new illustrator to re-do the existing art. This means you might see illustrations that you remember from your childhood… but something’s off.

1986: Drawing Samantha Parkington

Samantha’s core character design was developed in the earliest days of Pleasant Company. The Making of American Girl (2026) attributes lots of early concept art to Renée Graef, who also completed many of the vignette illustrations within the books. (Graef was also the primary illustrator for the Kirsten stories, released at the same time as the original Samantha collection.)

Vignette of Grandmary’s house from Samantha Learns a Lesson

The iconic “Meet Samantha” portrait was created by Nancy Niles, the sole credited illustrator for the first book. Niles and Robert Grace are credited for books 2-5, while only Luann Roberts is credited for book 6.

Book	Illustrations	Vignettes	1998 re-illustration
Meet Samantha1986	Nancy Niles	Renée Graef	Dan Andreasen
Samantha Learns a Lesson1986	Nancy Niles & Robert Grace	Eileen Potts Dawson	Dan Andreasen
Samantha’s Surprise1986	Nancy Niles & Robert Grace	Eileen Potts Dawson	Dan Andreasen
Happy Birthday, Samantha1987	Robert Grace & Nancy Niles	Jana Fothergill	Dan Andreasen
Samantha Saves the Day1988	Nancy Niles & Robert Grace	Luann Roberts	Dan Andreasen
Changes for Samantha1988	Luann Roberts	Luann Roberts	Dan Andreasen

As Samantha’s collection expanded, all the above illustrators contributed to odds and ends like posters, activity books, and paper dolls.

Reading poster showing Samantha reading in a wicker chair

1998: Re-Drawing Samantha Parkington

When this particular moment in Pleasant Company history comes up, it’s usually discussed in relation to Addy Walker, released in 1993. I recommend Aisha Harris's excellent oral history for Slate on Addy’s development. According to Harris’ interviews, Melodye Rosales, the original illustrator for the Addy books, parted with the company on bad terms. Pleasant Company brought in another illustrator to finish the Addy series. They then had the first three books redone to match, removing Rosales’ work entirely.

The Addy revisions are controversial among fans not only because of the behind-the-scenes disputes, but also because of artistic changes. There’s a “softening” of Addy’s world that makes her environment seem friendlier. In addition, Rosales’ original illustrations portray a range of skin tones among characters, but the revised illustrations portray nearly all characters with the same skin tone– one noticeably lighter.

Addy and three friends with lunch pails on a city street, original illustration

Addy and three friends with lunch pails on a city street, revised illustration

Addy on a city street passing people seated on a bench, original illustration

Addy on a city street beside a wagon and a crowd, revised illustration

(For the record, I feel very strange and slimy scrutinizing the shades of characters’ skin like this. But artistic choices like this really matter. It’s obvious that Pleasant Company made an affirmative decision to change Addy’s world to be less diverse and paler-skinned. Which, in my opinion, is alarming and gross and runs counter to their stated mission.)

There is no similar controversy about the Samantha reillustrations. I’ve personally never heard of any great conflict around the project. Many readers prefer the original Niles/Grace/Roberts illustrations, but don’t feel that the new versions betrayed anything important about Samantha’s world.

In 1998 (around the time of the sale to Mattel), the Samantha, Molly, and Addy series all had a refresh with new illustrations and revised cover art. These refreshes ensured that the girls had a consistent visual identity across all books and products. The Samantha series was handed off to Dan Andreasen, who stayed on to illustrate several future Samantha works. The vignette illustrations stayed, but all the full-page and half-page illustrations were redone.

The revised illustrations hewed very close to the originals. Most of them are one-to-one redos with the same contents, composition, colors, and expressions.

Nellie holding the doll Lydia in front of lilac bushes

Samantha holding a paper snowflake to the window

Samantha holding up a paper snowflake by the window

Some illustrations were more substantially revised, changing perspective. Still, they had to occupy the same page in the book, so they always portrayed the same moment in the story.

Samantha and family arriving at the lake, a steamboat behind

Samantha and the twins embracing by the lake

Pleasant Company took advantage of the reillustration work to add a couple more doll tie-ins. Originally, Samantha's Meet dress (the outfit the doll comes in) barely appeared in her stories. It was only found on the cover of her first book. The re-illustrations work it into a few more scenes in the first book.

Samantha and Nellie sitting together among the lilacs

Samantha and Nellie sitting together, talking

Some character designs were tweaked, too. The mischievous twins Agnes and Agatha get different haircuts. Samantha’s mean classmate Edith gets a new face. Elsa the Grumpy Maid is completely redesigned (I’m not sure why).

The twins and Samantha on a bed in a pink bedroom

The twins and Samantha sitting together on a bed

Edith scowling over the handlebars of a bicycle

Edith in a blue dress and straw hat outside school

A maid standing in the doorway of a room of girls

A maid opening the door to a room of girls

Unfortunately, the Samantha books were also hit with the same mandate to lighten the skin tones of Black characters. There are three Black characters in Meet Samantha: Jessie the seamstress, her husband Lincoln, and their baby Nathaniel. All three are noticeably paler in Andreasen's illustrations than in Niles's.

Jessie at her sewing machine as Samantha watches

Jessie sewing while Samantha stands beside her

A man opening a door as Samantha and Nellie peer in

A man opening the door to Samantha and Nellie at night

Close-up of a baby touched by an adult's hand

Close-up of a baby wrapped in a blanket, touched by an adult's hand

It can also be argued that the stories underwent a similar “softening,” presenting a kinder and brighter world for the girls to inhabit. There are still images of the girls in struggle or peril, but they sometimes seem less intense and more glamorous.

Samantha Saves the Day cover, Nancy Niles — *Samantha Saves the Day* covers

Samantha Saves the Day cover, Dan Andreasen — *Samantha Saves the Day* covers

I notice this most strongly in book 6, when Samantha is exposed to the poverty and danger in Nellie’s world.

Samantha in a crowded tenement room under hanging laundry

Samantha facing a woman holding a baby in a tenement kitchen

Nellie and Samantha meeting in an alley under hanging laundry

Nellie and Samantha meeting in a narrow alley

Several short stories also received the same treatment.

If I had to choose one set of illustrations, I think I’d lean towards the originals, but I do quite like Andreasen’s versions as well.