Mary Rand Hess

Mary Rand Hess is a poet, playwright, screenwriter, mixed-media artist, and New York Times bestselling author of notable and award-winning books such as Solo and Swing (Blink YA), coauthored with Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander, Animal Ark: Celebrating Our Wild World in Poetry and Pictures (National Geographic Children’s Books), also coauthored with Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido, Little Larry Goes to School: The True Story of a Timid Chimpanzee Who Learned to Reach New Heights (National Geographic Children’s Books), written with renowned photographer and filmmaker Gerry Ellis, The One and Only Wolfgang: From Pet Rescue to One Big Happy Family (Zonderkidz), coauthored with Steve Greig of @wolfgang2242 Instagram fame, and the forthcoming picture book, Belong (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Mary loves collaboration and is currently at work on several exciting projects, including a screenplay (TBA), and a children’s musical that is scheduled to premiere at The Kennedy Center in 2021. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two teenage sons, and two quirky dogs, who love to sing while she plays the piano.