image of person or book cover 6394000613272453623.jpg
Image by permission of the National Library of Australia.
May Gibbs May Gibbs i(A7495 works by) (birth name: Cecilia May Gibbs) (a.k.a. Cecilia May Ossoli Kelly)
Also writes as: Blob ; Stan Cottman
Born: Established: 17 Jan 1877 Kent,
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe,
; Died: Ceased: 27 Nov 1969 Sydney, New South Wales,
Gender: Female
Arrived in Australia: 1881
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BiographyHistory

May Gibbs, with her mother and two brothers, arrived in South Australia to live with her father who had bought land at Franklin Harbour, South Australia. Three months later, failing to make the land productive, the family moved to Adelaide and in 1885 they again followed Gibbs's father to a farming property in the Harvey district in Western Australia. The family moved to Perth when Gibbs was ten years old. Both her parents were artists and Gibbs studied art at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Gibbs left Australia in 1900 to continue her art studies in London. After returning to Perth in 1905, she was employed as an illustrator by the Western Mail newspaper and commenced writing short stories. She sailed to London in 1909 to further her art studies once again, as well as illustrating books and having her first book, About Us, published in 1912.

In 1913, Gibbs travelled to Sydney where she worked as an illustrator and in that year she created the gumnut baby characters. During World War 1, postcards, bookmarks and calendars were produced featuring the gumnut characters and Australian animals and themes. These were very successful. Her first Australian book, Gumnut Babies, was published in 1916. It made her an immediate success and she followed this with numerous other children's books over the next three decades. During the 1920s and 1930s Gibbs also created - writing and illustrating - newspaper cartoon strips Bib and Bub and Tiggy Touchwood as well as Gumnut Gossip, the weekly short stories.

Gibbs married James Ossoli Kelly in 1919 and her husband managed her business affairs. He died in 1940. May Gibbs was awarded an MBE in 1955. Her work continues to be in print and has inspired numerous non-book materials including, alphabet friezes, height wall charts, cards, calendars, painting books, diaries and other gift items.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • Voted number 19 in the Booktopia Top 50 Favourite Australian Authors for 2018

Personal Awards

1955 recipient The Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

in acknowledgement of her important contribution to Australian children’s literature.

Awards for Works

The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie Snugglepot and Cuddlepie Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1940 Z916552 1940 selected work children's fiction children's (taught in 3 units)
— Appears in: Kumurins un Kamolins; Es protu lekt pari pelkem; Vetras zens 1999;

'This quintessential collection of May Gibbs’ classic stories was first published in 1940 and has never been out of print since! Featuring the tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (first published in 1918) and its two sequels, Little Ragged Blossom (1920) and Little Obelia (1921). In this new edition, all of May’s original artwork has been sourced and re-scanned and the illustrations look as exquisite as the day May put down her paintbrush all those years ago.' (Source: author's website)

2004 YABBA Hall of Fame
Last amended 1 Feb 2018 12:16:25
See Also
Influence on:
The Gumnuts' Year Vicky Kitanov , 1993 single work picture book
The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and Little Ragged Blossom John Clarke , Doug MacLeod , 2007 single work musical theatre
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