Rosemary Wells
, b. 1943
Rosemary Wells is an American children’s author and illustrator. Her mother was a ballet dancer and her father an actor and playwright, and Wells grew up in a cultured, loving household. She was determined to be an artist from a very young age and practiced her drawing skills diligently. After finishing high school she enrolled in the Museum School in Boston, but was unhappy there and left without completing her degree. She married at the age of nineteen, and began working as a book designer first in Boston and then in New York. After collaborating on other projects, she wrote and illustrated her first picture book, Unfortunately Harriet, in 1972, and published the well-known Noisy Nora the following year.
She is best known for her numerous Max and Ruby books. Like most of Wells’ work, they feature anthropomorphic animal characters. Ruby is the precocious, bossy big sister, and Max the curious, irresponsible younger brother. The books explore the complexities of sibling dynamics, and regularly conclude with Max getting the better of Ruby. The series has been adapted as a children’s cartoon, with a sixth season premiering in late 2016.
In addition to Max and Ruby’s first Greek Myth: Pandora’s Box, Wells has also published Max and Ruby’s Midas: Another Greek Myth (1995). She has also written creative and historical fiction for young adults.
Sources:
Official website (accessed: June 28, 2018).
Profile at the Penguin Random House website (accessed: June 28, 2018).
Bio presented by Miriam Riverlea, University of New England, mriverlea@gmail.com
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