Dear Rosemary Wells,

I am a fan of yours.  A very big fan.  You see, I’ve been enjoying picture books with my various children for 19 years now and your books never get old.  They are always interesting.  They are “evergreen”.   We have read many of your books. Max’s Chocolate Chicken is a favorite, Bunny Cakes, and also Felix Feels Better. So many wonderful stories.

We have known of you for years, but we weren’t exactly die-hard FANS, yet.

You see, I never really stopped to realize what an amazing artist/author you were until the other day, when I found myself at the library, filling a bag of books for my children, who are in a summer reading program for their school.  They have to read and keep track of the number of books they complete and we carefully write the titles on a list in the cupboard.

My son Seth is 7, and Sarah is 6, so they need easier books to read.  Pictures books are perfect.

So yes,  I was at the library when I came to the “W” section (organized by the author’s last name) and realized….wow….Rosemary Wells has completed an amazing and prolific amount of work as a children’s author.  I showed my sixteen year old daughter the length of the row of YOUR books, each one thoughtfully written AND illustrated by you.  We were in awe and spoke of our love for your stories.  And at that moment, I became aware that I was a true fan.  So this is a thank you to you.  My oldest child is 19 years old.  There are a total of 7 children in our home.  And we have read your books all along the way.  They are a delight and charmingly creative!

My six year old, with the long blond hair, sat cross legged by my side this morning.  She still had sleepy eyes and had just eaten her toast for breakfast.  We took Time-Out for Sophie from the library bag and she read me every word, leaning over the pages with her hair dangling and getting in the way so prettily.  “Sophie” was a hard word for her to pronounce and remember.  We were very amused by the antics of Sophie.  She threw her macaroni and cheese on the floor two times!  And then she dumped the clean and folded laundry!  But Sarah just loved the fabrics of all those pretty clothes.  She carefully studied each one and pointed her finger at her favorites that *she wished she could have * (with a sigh).

Thank you for putting humor, detail, and beauty in your drawings.  I agreed that the purple polka dotted shirt would look very nice on Sarah.

Sarah thought it was funny that Sophie had her time-out at the top of the stairs.  She wondered what the brown wall was behind her.  You see, we have bookcases at the top of our stairs.  I told her that Sophie is a mouse and so she lives underground.  I’m not sure if she was satisfied by that answer but her silence said it was the end of the question and so we moved on to the next page, the part about Granny.  Sophie kept taking Granny’s glasses right off her face!

Wise Granny knew just how to put an end to Sophie’s nonsense….by putting HERSELF in time-out.  I thought to myself that yes, when MY children were being naughty to me, I would put MYSELF into time-out, too, just like Granny.

We turned the page again to see that Sophie was now in the tub and was in the process of squirting the bubble bath clear across the room.  The book didn’t say so, but Sarah knew that Sophie was headed for ANOTHER time out.

Then the book was over and she studied all the beautiful clothes that you drew for the end paper.

We read Shy Charles this week, too, and Noisy Nora.  Your wonderful books make me smile and the children like them just as much as I do.  We think you must be amused as you work on them, as well.  Happiness & joy all around.

Thank you, Rosemary Wells!  May you continue to create for many years to come!

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I sit on the grass and watch the children jump into the pond.  They say the water is great and want me to swim with them.

Sarah got brave enough…yesterday!  Now she doesn’t stop jumping.  At the end of the day when she’s sitting snuggled up to me, I smell her hair and it smells so good, like sweet perfume and pond water.

they show off for mama’s camera

I find a tiny toad.

“Tiny toads are all over the place.  There were three on me yesterday.” ~Sarah, while swimming

I bought three bags of balloons the other day and they have been an endless source of amusement for the kids.  David likes blowing them up as much as big as they will get.  Then he plays with them until they blow up.  I was down at the pond when one of his balloons popped and it was so loud my heart leapt and I thought someone had shot a gun in the woods.  I went up to the house and the boys were laughing.  Ethan said it was as loud as a cannon.

I tied four water balloons for Seth as I wrote this blog post.  (He can’t tie them and Sarah can’t blow them up.  I’m still needed. LOL)

Shooting hoops on a summer day.