One of our best loved children's illustrators, Molly Brett was born in 1902 and grew up in the Surrey countryside surrounded by animals. Her mother, Mary Gould Brett, was a respected animal painter who encouraged her daughter to paint from life, and this is reflected in Molly's gift for making her animals look thoroughly naturalistic whilst giving them human characteristics.
Molly took a correspondence course in illustration, and one of her earliest commissions was to illustrate stories by Enid Blyton. Evidently inspired by this, she went on to write and illustrate some 21 books for Medici, with whom she was associated for sixty years. Medici has published over 500 of her paintings as postcards, greeting cards and prints.
Molly Brett's work has enchanted generations of children with its beautifully drawn details, subtle colours and magical atmosphere. Her work follows the tradition of other twentieth-century illustrators such as Beatrix Potter, Margaret Tempest and her close friend Margaret Tarrant.