Most were published in the 1970s and 1980s by Scholastic Corporation and have been out of print for some time.
[1] Chew was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 8, 1920, and attended the Corcoran School of Art.
In 1953, she moved into the Brooklyn row house where many of her books are set.
[3] Ruth Chew also illustrated children's books by other authors, including The Questers, by E. W. Hildick, and Shark Lady: True Adventures of Eugenie Clark, by Ann McGovern.
In February 2024, Ruth Chew's daughter, Eve Sprunt, published a biography of her mother, "Passionate Persistence, The Life of My Mother, Ruth Chew (Author of The Wednesday Witch)".