A Beary Nice Coloring Book - Volume 1: featuring the Gruffies(R) bears by artist Ellen Jareckie - Paperback

Ellen Jareckie was born in Bennington, Vermont in 1959. As a child, she spent much of her spare time drawing. She also kept a variety of pets throughout her childhood, which included a pig named Pipsqueak (who was raised on a bottle) a quail, some lizards and, of course, mice. When Ellen was introduced to her first mouse, it was love at first sight, and the beginning of a lifelong interest, which would eventually lead to the creation of House-Mouse Designs(R). Ellen began House-Mouse(R) in 1980 with business partner, Barry Percy. It started out as a relatively small mail-order/greeting card business selling Ellen's artwork on cards, calendars and paper items featuring a delightful line of mice. Ellen uses pencil and ink and watercolor to create all of her images out of her studio in Shelburne, Vermont. She depicts her characters in a life-size human environment, which is designed to give the viewer a "mouse's-eye" view of the world. She recently added a line of bunny characters called HappyHoppers(R) and a line of bears, Gruffies(R), as featured in this coloring book. In addition to drawing exclusively for House-Mouse Designs(R), Ellen volunteered for many years to help rehabilitate injured and orphaned wildlife, some of which can be seen interacting with the mice, bunnies and bears in her illustrations. She currently volunteers for the American Red Cross association. Visit us to find out more about Ellen and our different brands at www.house-mouse.com.