Winstead, Rosie

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Winstead, Rosie

Personal

Married; husband's name Patrick. Hobbies and other interests: Flea markets, rearranging her house, spending time with family.

Addresses

Home and office—Springfield, MO.

Career

Author and illustrator.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Ruby and Bubbles, Dial Books (New York, NY), 2006.

ILLUSTRATOR

Kathleen O'Dell, Ophie out of Oz, Dial Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Eileen Spinelli, Someday, Dial Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Ophie out of Oz, was adapted as an audiobook, read by Ann Marie Lee, Listening Library.

Sidelights

As a child Rosie Winstead would often draw family portraits depicting humorous renditions of her parents and eight siblings. In her work as a children's book illustrator she captures that same whimsical humor; as Winstead reported on the Adams Literary Web site, her aim in illustrating and writing children's stories is to create works that are "straightforward and simple, yet suggest subtle complexities through details, whether it be a certain gesture or something funny happening in the background." Winstead's illustrations are featured in Eileen Spinelli's picture book Someday as well as in Kathleen O'Dell's Ophie out of Oz. Winstead's artwork also appears alongside an original story in Ruby and Bubbles.

Winstead finds the innocence and unabashed confidence of younger children inspiring, and in her self-illustrated Ruby and Bubbles she creates characters who have these same virtues. Ruby and Bubbles is about a little girl named Ruby who buys a pet bird that cannot fly. Taunted by her friends about her strange pet, Ruby makes every effort to teach the bird—named Bubbles—to fly, but to no avail. Ultimately, the young girl realizes that she still appreciates Bubbles, even if

the bird never takes to the sky. To bring to life her story, Winstead uses watercolor and pen-and-ink, creating "energetic illustrations [that] deliver the bulk of the book's humor," according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Carolyn Janssen, writing in School Library Journal, commented that Winstead's illustrations for Ruby and Bubbles "capture the girl's exuberant and independent style," in addition to "highlighting her dramatic fashion sense."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2006, Karen Coats, review of Ruby and Bubbles, p. 377.

Horn Book, July-August, 2004, Robin Smith, review of Ophie out of Oz, p. 458.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2004, review of Ophie out of Oz, p. 399; January 15, 2006, review of Ruby and Bubbles, p. 91.

Publishers Weekly, May 17, 2004, review of Ophie out of Oz, p. 51; March 6, 2006, review of Ruby and Bubbles, p. 74; August 21, 2006, review of Ophie out of Oz, p. 72.

School Library Journal, July, 2004, Linda L. Plevak, review of Ophie out of Oz, p. 83; February, 2006, Caro- lyn Janssen, review of Ruby and Bubbles, p. 112; September, 2006, Cynthia Grabke, review of Ophie out of Oz, p. 72.