Joanna H. (Joanna Hooe) Mathews

Joanna H. Mathews was an American writer of children's fiction, identified in major library and public-domain catalogs as Joanna H. (Joanna Hooe) Mathews, 1849–1901. Her books were published in the late 1860s and afterward, and many are still easy to find today through digital libraries.

She is especially associated with the Bessie series, including Bessie at the Sea-Side (1867), Bessie in the City (1868), Bessie and Her Friends (1868), Bessie among the Mountains (1869), Bessie at School (1869), and Bessie on Her Travels (1870). Other widely preserved titles include Belle Powers' Locket, Daisy's Work, Jessie's Parrot, Lily Norris' Enemy, Mamie's Watchword, Nellie's Housekeeping, and Uncle Rutherford's Nieces.

Her fiction was written for young readers and centers on friendships, family feeling, school life, and gentle lessons about character. The continued availability of her work through Project Gutenberg and other online collections suggests a writer whose stories have remained readable and appealing long after their first publication.