Ivy Wallace

Ivy retired at 85 and enjoyed spending time with her family and dogs and tending her beloved garden. She remained at her home near Biggar until 2002 when she moved to Auchlochan Garden Village where she died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 90.

In 1967, her husband died suddenly leaving Ivy heartbroken. She closed her studio, too consumed with grief to continue something that had meant so much to them both. Eventually in 1994, spurred on by decades of letters and pleas from fans now grown up and wishing to share Pookie with their own children, Ivy and her daughters relaunched Pookie Productions Ltd, and republished her books which once again became international bestsellers. The Animal Shelf, animated by award-winning Cosgrove Hall Films, was a Children's BAFTA-nominated TV series on CITV, running to 52 episodes and broadcast in over 50 countries. In 1997 Ivy was the subject of the BBC Scotland documentary “Pookie Flies Again”. An exhibition of her life and work 'The Magical World of Pookie and The Animal Shelf' toured the UK from 1997 until 2000.

Ivy founded her own company Pookie Productions Ltd. In all, she wrote ten 'Pookie' books as well as the highly successful 'Animal Shelf' series for younger children and 'The Young Warrenders' series for older ones. For over 20 years, Ivy's beautiful books became a publishing phenomenon and were worldwide bestsellers. Translated into several languages, Pookie was read as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. The stories were broadcast in Australia in Pookie's Half-Hour and thousands of children attended Pookie rallies. Ivy also enjoyed a successful career as a writer-illustrator for Wm Collins & Sons and for other international publishers. In 1950 she created the first baby record book 'Baby Days, A Record Year by Year'.

Ivy illustrated her stories with delicate, detailed watercolour paintings that perfectly captured her evocative tales. In 1945, just after war ended, encouraged by friends to find a publisher for her manuscript, she visited William Collins & Sons in London without an appointment. She was turned away, crestfallen, but asked to leave her manuscript. A few weeks later she was contacted by William Hope Collins and asked to attend the Glasgow office where the Children's Books section was based. Borrowing some money from her brother to buy a new dress and a 'big hat' to make her appear more 'serious', she took the train north to Glasgow. She met with William Hope Collins in the (now demolished) Cathedral Street offices and not only did William accept the book, he also fell in love with its author. In 1950 Ivy and William married and went to live in the Scottish Borders. They were a devoted couple and had two daughters Heather (b.1952) and Cherry (b.1956).

Ivy Lilian Wallace (7 October 1915 – 13 March 2006) was a British author/illustrator, artist and actress, best known for writing the Pookie series and The Animal Shelf series of illustrated children's stories.