Rosemary Wells

Rosemary Wells is an American writer and illustrator of children's books who uses animal characters to address real human issues. Her books Max & Ruby and Timothy Goes to School were both adapted into Canadian-animated preschool television series. (Max and Ruby aired on Nickelodeon as part of the Nick Jr. block. Timothy was on PBS Kids.)

Background & Career Wells was born on 1943 in New York City and raised in Red Bank, New Jersey. Her mother was a ballerina with the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo and her father was a playwright. She began drawing at age two. Wells' family encouraged her artistic talents and love of stories. "Reading stories aloud was as much a part of my childhood as the air I breathed," she recalled.

When Wells was nineteen, she attended the Boston Museum School, where she studied illustration. Before becoming an author and illustrator, Wells worked as an art editor for Allyn and Bacon, Inc and as an art designer for Macmillan Publishing.

In 1963, she married architect Thomas Moore Wells, with whom she has two daughters.

In 1968, Wells published her first book, an illustrated version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s A Song to Sing, O!. In her career of more than 30 years, she has published more than 60 books.

Wells often uses animals as characters. In the children's journal Stone Soup, Wells explained that she writes using animals because it allows her to address sophisticated, controversial topics in ways children can understand and adults can accept. For example, Yoko tackles the thorny topic of racism. It is about a young Japanese kitten who, in the beginning, is ostracized when she brings in sushi for her school lunch. At the story's conclusion, she gains acceptance by hosting a school luncheon where everyone brings in food native to their family from around the world. Many of the animal characters, such as those in Max & Ruby, interact with one another much as humans would, while others such as McDuff, a West Highland Terrier, take on a more realistic role as the adopted pet of a young couple.

Works

Children's books 1971–1973 Library of Congress catalog records imply that these six are children's picture books. Impossible, Possum (1971), written by Ellen Conford A Hot Thirsty Day (1971), by Marjorie W. Sharmat Two Sisters and Some Hornets (1972), by Beryl Epstein and Dorrit Davis Unfortunately Harriet (1972) Noisy Nora (1973) Benjamin & Tulip (1973)

Later

Abdul Bingo Carry Me! Doris's Dinosaur Edward the Unready series Edward Unready for School Edward's Overwhelming Overnight Edward in Deep Water Emily's First 100 Days of School Felix Feels Better Felix Stands Tall Fiona's Little Lie Fritz and the Mess Fairy Getting to Know You: Rodgers and Hammerstein Favorites Good Night Fred Goodnight Lucas Hazel's Amazing Mother I Love You: A Bushel and a Peck Kindergators series Hands Off, Harry! Miracle Melts Down Lassie Lassie Come-Home Love Waves Max & Ruby series Baby Max & Ruby: Clean-Up Time Baby Max & Ruby: Peek-a-Boo Baby Max & Ruby: Red Boots Baby Max & Ruby: Shopping Bunny Cakes Bunny Mail Bunny Money Bunny Party Goodnight Max Hooray for Max Max & Ruby in Pandora's Box – Max & Ruby's First Greek Myth Max & Ruby Play School Max & Ruby's Bedtime Book Max & Ruby's Busy Week Max & Ruby's Midas: Another Greek Myth Max & Ruby's Preschool Pranks Max & Ruby's Show and Tell Max & Ruby's Snowy Day Max & Ruby's Storybook Collection Max Cleans Up Max Counts His Chickens Max Drives Away Max's ABC Max's Bath Max's Bedtime Max's Birthday Max's Breakfast Max's Bunny Business Max's Chocolate Chicken Max's Christmas Max's Christmas Stocking Max's Dragon Shirt Max's First Word Max's New Suit Max's Ride Max's Snowsuit Max's Toys Max's Work of Art Play with Max & Ruby Read to Your Bunny Ruby's Beauty Shop Ruby's Cupcakes Ruby's Falling Leaves Ruby's Tea for Two McDuff series McDuff and Friends McDuff and the Baby McDuff Comes Home McDuff Goes to School McDuff Moves In McDuff Saves the Day McDuff Steps Out McDuff Stories McDuff's Favorite Things McDuff's Hide-and-Seek McDuff's New Friend; reissued as McDuff's Christmas McDuff's Wild Romp Morris's Disappearing Bag Mother Goose series (illustrator only) My Very First Mother Goose Here Comes Mother Goose Mother Goose's Little Treasures My Kindergarten My Shining Star Night Sounds, Morning Colors Old MacDonald Otto Runs for President Peabody Shy Charles Sophie series Sophie’s Christmas Surprise Sophie’s Halloween Disguise Sophie's Terrible Twos Ten Kisses for Sophie Time Out for Sophie Use Your Words Sophie Stanley and Rhoda Stella's Starliner Tell Me a Trudy (illustrator only) The Bear Went Over the Mountain The Christmas Mystery (illustrator only) The Gulps (writer only, by Marc Brown) The Itsy Bitsy Spider The Miraculous Tale of the Two Maries Timothy Goes to School Voyage to the Bunny Planet series First Tomato The Island Light Moss Pillows Yoko series Yoko Yoko Learns to Read Yoko Writes Her Name Yoko's Paper Cranes Yoko's Show-and-Tell Yoko's World of Kindness Yoko Finds Her Way

Musicals Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical (directed by Rosemary Newcott, not Rosemary Wells)

Other books Fog Comes on Little Pig Feet (1972) John and the Rarey (1968) published by Funk & Wagnalls Following Grandfather Help Children Cope with Divorce Help Children Cope with Grief House in the Mail Lincoln and His Boys Mary on Horseback My Havana: Memories of a Cuban Boyhood, written with Secundino Fernandez, illustrated by Peter Ferguson On the Blue Comet, illus. Bagram Ibatoulline Red Moon at Sharpsburg Streets of Gold Through the Hidden Door Leave Well Enough Alone The Man in the Woods When No One Was Looking Little Bunny, Big Germs

Awards and recognition

Rosemary Wells's books have received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Horn Book Magazine. She has been nominated for numerous awards, such as the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Black-Eyed Susan Award, the Red Clover Award, and the Beehive Award. She has won the following:

Irma S. and James H. Black Award, 1975 - Morris's Disappearing Bag Virginia Readers Choice Award, 1987 - Man in the Woods Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, 1989 - Shy Charles Parents' Choice Award, 2014 - Stella's Starliner