Rosemary Wells

Rosemary Wells was born in New York City and grew up on the New Jersey Shore. Most of her childhood was spent outdoors at a time when New Jersey was still small farms and miles of woods. Her mother was a dancer in the Russian Ballet, and her father a playwright and actor. Mrs. Wells says,"Both my parents flooded me with books and stories. My grandmother took me on special trips to the theater and museums in New York.

"When I was two years old I began to draw and they saw right away the career that lay ahead of me and encouraged me every day of my life. As far back as I can remember, I did nothing but draw."

Rosemary Wells attended Boston Museum School and married in her early twenties. She began her career in children's books working as a designer at Macmillan in New York, and it was there that she published her first book, an illustrated edition of Gilbert & Sullivan's I Have a Song to Sing-O.

Rosemary Wells's career as an author and illustrator spans more than 30 years and 60 books. She has won numerous awards, and has given readers such unforgettable characters as Max and Ruby, Noisy Nora, and Yoko. She has also given Mother Goose new life in two enormous, definitive editions, published by Candlewick.

Website: http://www.rosemarywells.com/