Rosekrans Hoffman

AKA: Ruth Rosekrans Hoffman

Rosekrans Hoffman was the author's professional name in her work as a book illustrator, author and artist.

Born 1926-01-07 Denton, NE (USA)

Died 2007-09-26
David City, NE (USA)

Buried
Denton, NE (USA)

After leaving Nebraska to pursue her artistic career in New York, when she found her artistic path pointing back along the roads of her childhood, she followed it. At first, she had painted, very successfully, in the style of the day. Her abstract impressionist paintings were shown at the Whitney Museum and in other famed collections. She changed direction in the 1970s as she began to illustrate children's books. Soon an agent suggested she write such a book herself. Anna Banana, 1975, settled Rosekrans Hoffman in a unique and successful career as an artist who wrote children’s books and provided artwork for children’s books by many other writers. She was always careful to say that she was an artist and not an illustrator. To her, this meant that the integrity of her artistic vision came first.
There is a longer biographical essay on-line here in our no longer maintained blog.

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Places Lived

Denton, NE
Lincoln, NE
New York, NY
West Haven, CT

Author Of

Fiction
Visual Work

Keywords

Children's fiction; Illustrator of children's books

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Nebraska, 1948

Occupation

Illustrator of children's books
writer

Places Worked

Freelance

Honors

Nebraska 150 Books honor for Sister Sweet Ella, 2017
Shows at the Whitney and the Brooklyn Museum
Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award, UNL College of Fine and Performing Arts, 1999
Nebraska Literary Heritage Association’s Literary Heritage Award, 2001

Bibliography

Books Illustrated:
Walter in Love. 1973.
Anna Banana. 1975. (writer and illustrator)
Where Did That Naughty Little Hamster Go. 1978.
An Egg Is to Sit On. 1978.
Alexandra, The Rock-Eater. 1978.
Go to Bed. 1979.
My Mother Sends Her Wisdom. 1979.
Come Home, Wilma. 1980.
Elves, Fairies and Gnomes. 1980.
The Case of the Missing Hat. 1982.
The Easter Pig, 1982.
Sister Sweet Ella. 1982.
How Do You Make an Elephant Float? And Other Stories. 1983.
The Truth About the Moon. 1983.
Creepy, Crawly, Critter Riddles. 1986.
Three Sisters. 1986.
The Horrible Holidays. 1988.
Sue Patch and the Crazy Clocks. 1989.
Jet Black Pickup Truck. 1990. (written by Patricia Lakin)
Where Did That Naughty Hamster Go. 1991. (written by Patty Wolcott)
The Best Cat Suit of All. 1991. (written by Sylvia Cassedy)
Mother Goose's Song Book. 1992. (written by Jane Yolen)
Where Do Little Girls Grow?. 1993. (written by Milly Jane Limmer)
Pignic: An Alphabet Book in Rhyme. 1996. (written by Anne Miranda)

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