Of all the mail that New York Times best-selling author and illustrator Rosemary Wells receives, it was a letter from a young woman that she recalled during a recent interview with the Deseret News. The woman wrote that when she was younger, she felt alone as the only Japanese child in school, but she was encouraged by Wells’ book “Yoko” about a little cat from Japan who also felt alone until she found a friend.
“I only try to give one message, and that is you are not alone,” Wells said. “I just write about childhood situations that I see and make them funny and real and universal.”
Wells, author and illustrator of the Max and Ruby books that were made into a children’s television series for Nick Jr., brings to life a little gray mouse in her new book “Say Hello, Sophie!” (Penguin Random House, $17.99, ages 0-3). The shy Sophie, dressed in a light-blue polka dot shirt and pants sprinkled with bright yellow flowers, can’t seem to get the words "hello," "thank you" and "goodbye" to come out of her mouth. But, as in all the Sophie books, Wells said, Granny comes to the rescue.
“Granny knows that if you take the grown-ups out of the situation, the child behaves differently and very responsibly and very grown-up,” Wells said. “Sometimes a different approach to a problem with children is a completely fresh and different approach … (and) giving them responsibility often is the charm.”
Wells said the idea for Sophie came from her 6-year-old granddaughter, who has a huge vocabulary but does not use it very often in public.
“That is true of a lot of children. They don’t like suddenly feeling onstage and asked to do something they may not want to do,” Wells said.
This common childhood condition that is addressed in “Say Hello, Sophie!” is paired with soft pastel colors that are warm, fun and colorful for young readers. Wells’ use of ink, watercolor and gouache offer an inviting, thoughtful and expressive look into childhood.
Wells said she writes books that are meant to be read out loud and with great enjoyment. She hopes that parents and children can see themselves in the books and laugh.
“If you give children stories where they see themselves, they hear their voices and their parents' voices, and they learn to laugh at themselves, they will learn to love books,” Wells said. “If there is just one thing I care about, it is writing books that children love so that they go from my book to the next book and the next book and become readers.”
As she travels, Wells said that she stresses the impact that books with pages (as opposed to electronic books) have on children. She cited a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics that provided evidence that reading to children might promote early reading skills.
The research, which was presented April 2015, showed that “greater home reading exposure was strongly associated with activation of specific brain areas supporting semantic processing (the extraction of meaning from language),” according to aap.org.
“We need to get back to that,” Wells said. “Only in live reading aloud with pages that turn do those little neurons develop in the brain. … We really have to go back to old-fashioned reading aloud from real books.
“If you read a lot and read regularly and take advantage of the libraries, if you read all the time to children between the age of 1 and 5, you are developing their brains to be good critical thinkers and to be very bright and to succeed in school, no matter what their economic background.”
Wells is scheduled to visit Utah beginning Feb. 28 and will visit several locations during her trip. Along with author signings, several libraries will also host programs for children to encourage reading. Her book “Hand in Hand,” a poem published by Macmillan, will be featured. Wells said the book tells a new mom and dad everything they need to know between the first day of a child's life and their first day of kindergarten.
“I love Utah,” Wells said of her many visits to the state. “Utah in general is a very family friendly place. It is a terrific spot to bring a book of this kind because it really supports a lot of the values that the community in Utah shares."
If you go …
What: Rosemary Wells book signing
Where: Provo Library, 550 N. University Ave., Provo
When: Feb. 28, 7-9 p.m.
Web: provolibrary.com/authorlink
Also …
Where: Davis County Library South Branch, 725 S. Main, Bountiful
When: March 1, 5-9 p.m.
Also …
What: Rosemary Wells “Hand in Hand” discussion
Where: Viridian Event Center, 8030 S. 1825 West, West Jordan
When: March 3, 7-8 p.m.
Web: slcolibrary.org
Also …
What: Rosemary Wells “Hand in Hand” play
Where: Viridian Event Center, 8030 S. 1825 West, West Jordan
When: March 4, 10:30 a.m.-noon