May Gibbs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cecilia May Gibbs MBE (17 January 1877–27 November 1969) was an Australian children's author, illustrator, and cartoonist. She is best-known for her gumnut babies (also known as "bush babies" or "bush fairies"), and the book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.
Gibbs was born in Sydenham, in the United Kingdom, but moved to South Australia in 1879. Not long afterwards, the family moved again, to Perth, in Western Australia. After finishing school, Gibbs spent seven years studying art in the UK. While overseas, she published her first book, About Us. In 1913 she returned to Australia, and took up residence in Neutral Bay, in Sydney, New South Wales.
1913 also marked the first public appearance of the gumnut babies, on the front cover of The Missing Button, by Ethel Turner, which Gibbs had illustrated. Gibbs' first book about the gumnut babies, appropriately entitled The Gumnut Babies, was published in 1916. It was soon followed, in 1918, by her most famous work, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Gibbs would go on to write many books on the theme of the gumnut babies. In addition to her work illustrating and writing, Gibbs also maintained two comic strips, Bib and Bub and Tiggy Touchwood.
Shortly after publishing Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Gibbs married B. James Ossoli Kelly.
[edit] References
- About May Gibbs, Jean Chapman, Nutcote website. Accessed 1 April 2006.
- Biography: May Gibbs, Australian National Botanic Gardens website. Accessed 1 April 2006.
