Ivy Wallace

October 7, 1915 (age 90)

Grimsby

However when she left school, she joined Felixstowe Repertory theatre as an actress. When the Second World War broke out she joined the British film industry to make educational films. Later in the War she moved to doing support work for the police and it was while working for them that she first thought of Pookie, the winged rabbit. While working in a police station during the war, manning a police switchboard, she doodled a picture of a fairy sitting on a toadstool with a little rabbit in front. She then decided that fairies were "two a penny" and so rubbed out the fairy and gave the rabbit wings. After naming the rabbit Pookie she wrote a story about him: "This is the story of Pookie, a little white furry rabbit, with soft, floppity ears, big blue eyes and the most lovable rabbit smile in the world," were the opening lines. So confident was she that in 1946 Ivy took a train from Grimsby to London to present her manuscript to publishers. She arrived at the offices of Williams Collins Limited. without a prior appointment. But the response was less than encouraging and she returned home crestfallen, leaving her manuscript behind. A few weeks later she was contacted by William Hope Collins and asked to attend the Glasgow office where the Children"s book section was based. 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 But in 1950 Ivy and William were married and went to live near Biggar in the Scottish Borders. They had two daughters, Heather (b 1952) and Cherry (b 1956). In 1997 Ivy Wallace was the subject of a documentary on British Broadcasting Corporation Scotland "Pookie Flies Again" and an exhibition of her drawings was held at the Collins Gallery in Glasgow during that same year In addition to the Pookie books she wrote two other series, one of which, The Animal Shelf, was later adapted for television and released as 13 animated episodes.