Humpty Dumpty

Iona Opie has dedicated her life to collecting and preserving children's games and rhymes and is considered the world's authority in the field. In partnership with her late husband, Peter Opie, she edited many acclaimed books of children's folklore, including The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes and I Saw Esau, first published in 1947 and revised in 1992 with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. Rosemary Wells has won many major awards. Among the numerous stories she has written and illustrated for young people are the Max and Ruby books (soon to be a TV series) and three titles about Edward the Unready: Edward's First Day at School, Edward's First Swimming Party and Edward's First Night Away (Walker Books, 1996). She lives in New York.