Rosemary Wells: Biography and Book Recommendations (page 2)

Biography:

Rosemary Wells grew up in rural New Jersey, surrounded by art, music, and stories. Her mother, a ballet dancer, her father, a playwright and actor, and her grandmother all encouraged her creative interests from an early age.

Wells attended the Museum School in Boston, but left early to marry and begin a career as a book designer for Macmillan in New York. She wrote an illustrated her first book, Unfortunately Harriet, in 1972. Since then, she has produced more than 60 books, most of which feature bunnies, kittens and other animals facing the same everyday trials and tribulations that young children might encounter.

Rosemary Wells has received the following commendations from Parents' Choice:

Here Comes Mother Goose

Ages: Infant - 3 yrs.

Author: Iona Opie   Illustrator: Rosemary Wells  
Candlewick Press, $21.99 (Hard Cover)   

(1999 Parents' Choice Gold Award) Candlewick Press: ISBN 0-7636-0683-9, Ages infant - 3 years.

Edward the Unready Series (1995 Parents' Choice Approved). Rosemary Wells. Dial. $7.99, Ages 2 - 6. Edward in Deep Water, ISBN 0803718829; Edward Unready for School, ISBN 0803718845; Edward's Overwhelming Overnight, ISBN 0803718837.

Lucy Comes to Stay (1994 Parents' Choice Silver Honor). Rosemary Wells. Illustrated by Mark Graham. Dial. ISBN 0803712138. $14.99, Ages 4 - 8.

Shy Charles (1989 Parents' Choice Gold Award). Rosemary Wells. Puffin. ISBN 0140545379. $5.99, Ages 3 - 7.

The Man in the Woods (1984 Story Book Honor). Rosemary Wells. Puffin. ISBN 0141309725. $5.99, Ages 9 - 12.

Lassie Come-Home (1995 Parents' Choice Gold Award)
Rewritten for Young Readers by Rosemary Wells
Illustrated by Susan Jeffers
Henry Holt: ISBN 0-8050-5995-4
$7.95, All ages
An unorthodox picture-book text, to be sure, but this sensitive rendition of Eric Knight's 1938 classic about the much-loved collie that refuses to be separated from her young master is sure to win a large, latter-day audience of younger listener/viewers. Stark poverty-a subject much in the news today-forces a jobless Yorkshire miner to sell his son's dog for hard cash. Without a maudlin word, Wells relates the saga of Lassie's unbelievable trek across Scotland and part of England to find her old home. And Jeffers' grave, deeply felt illustrations eloquently capture the harshness of poverty and the high drama of Lassie's incredible journey. The book's uplifting message that-just occasionally-love does conquer all is yet another plus.
Reviewed by Selma Lanes, © 1995 Parents' Choice

The Language of Doves (1997 Parents' Choice Approved)
Rosemary Wells
Illustrated by George Shed
Dial: ISBN 0-8037-1471-8
$14.99, Ages 4 - 8
Grandfather gives Julietta a dove on her sixth birthday. He also gives us the story of his childhood as an Italian orphan who loved only a dove. Lyrical prose in an exceptionally lovely story.
Reviewed by Kemie Nix, ©1997 Parents' Choice

My Very First Mother Goose (1996 Parents' Choice Gold Award)
Edited by Iona Opie
Illustrated by Rosemary Wells
Candlewick Press: ISBN 1-56402-620-5
$21.99, Ages infant- 4 years
Iona Opie, who with her late husband gathered the world's most scholarly collections of British verse for children, combines classic nursery rhymes with an equal number of other unfamiliar to the American ear ("From Wibbleton to Wobbleton," "Elsie Marley's grown so fine," etc.). The rhythmical mixture makes a generous volume distinctive; it's simultaneously pungent, sweet and salty. Rosemary Wells' watercolors have uproarious good humor and unfailing tenderness.
Reviewed by John Cech, © 1996 Parents' Choice