Cece Bell
{{short description|American author and illustrator|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Cece Bell
| image = File:Cece Bell (2024).jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Bell in 2024
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|12|26}}
| birth_place = Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Writer, cartoonist, illustrator
| years_active = 1991–present
| genre = Children's literature
| subject =
| movement =
| education = Paier College of Art
| influenced =
| website = {{URL|cecebell.com/}}
| spouse = Tom Angleberger
| children = 2
}}
Cecelia Carolina Bell{{cite web|title=Cece Bell: How I made 'El Deafo' in pictures|url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/aug/04/cece-bell-el-deafo-in-pictures|work=The Guardian|date=August 4, 2015|access-date=February 25, 2016|archive-date=February 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227182016/http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/aug/04/cece-bell-el-deafo-in-pictures|url-status=live}} (born December 26, 1970, in Richmond, Virginia) is an American author, cartoonist, and illustrator. Most well known for her graphic novel El Deafo, Bell's work has appeared in The Atlantic, Vegetarian Times, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, Working Woman, Esquire and many other publications.
Biography
Bell suffered hearing loss as a child due to a case of meningitis. As a result, she had to get used to using bulky and prominent hearing devices around her school-age peers.
Bell attended the Paier College of Art as an art major and went on to get a graduate degree in illustration and design at Kent State University in 1991. She became a freelance commercial artist, illustrator, and designer for an array of projects before beginning her career as a full-time author-illustrator.
Career
=''El Deafo''=
{{Main|El Deafo}}
El Deafo is based on Bell's own childhood. She wanted there to be a handbook for hearing people so they knew how to understand and communicate with deaf people without being disrespectful. The project eventually evolved into a graphic novel where children who were deaf could see themselves positively represented in a book.
Bell uses the imagery of everyone illustrated as rabbits as a visual metaphor. When she was growing up, she felt like she was the only "rabbit" whose ears didn't work, in doing so she shows being deaf as a power. She also shows and talks about how being deaf isn't something negative.{{cite news|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/apr/27/cece-bell-el-deafo-newbery-medal-deafness-childrens-books|title=Cece Bell: I wanted to show what it felt like to be the only deaf kid at my school|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302095201/https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/apr/27/cece-bell-el-deafo-newbery-medal-deafness-childrens-books |archive-date=March 2, 2017|date=April 27, 2015}}
The title of the graphic novel comes from the idea that Cece feels powerful like a superhero with the assistance of her Phonic Ear, the hearing aid she uses in order to hear her teachers at school.NPR Staf [https://www.npr.org/2014/12/14/369599042/el-deafo-how-a-girl-turned-her-disability-into-a-superpower "'El Deafo': How A Girl Turned Her Deafness Into A Superpower"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310125011/https://www.npr.org/2014/12/14/369599042/el-deafo-how-a-girl-turned-her-disability-into-a-superpower |date=March 10, 2018 }} "All Things Considered", December 14, 2014
Personal life
Bell is married to children's author Tom Angleberger.{{cite news |url=http://jacksonville.com/lifestyles/columnists/brandy-allport/2013-03-21/story/read-all-about-it-author-orbit-again-winsome|title=Read All About It: Author in orbit again with winsome activity book|last=Hilboldt Allport|first=Brandy |date=21 March 2013 |newspaper=The Florida Times-Union |accessdate=15 April 2013}}
Awards and honors
Bell won the Newbery Medal Honor and Eisner Award for El Deafo.
Five of Bell's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Sock Monkey Rides Again (2007),{{Cite web |title=Sock Monkey Rides Again by Cece Bell |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780763630898J&name=Sock_Monkey_Rides_Again |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Junior Library Guild}} El Deafo (2014),{{Cite web |title=El Deafo by Cece Bell |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781419710209J&name=Deafo |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Junior Library Guild}} Rabbit & Robot and Ribbit (2016),{{Cite web |title=Rabbit & Robot and Ribbit by Cece Bell |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780763679354J&name=Rabbit_and_Robot_and_Ribbit |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Junior Library Guild}} Smell My Foot!: Chick and Brain (2019),{{Cite web |title=Smell My Foot!: Chick and Brain by Cece Bell |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780763679361J&name=Smell_My_Foot |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Junior Library Guild |archive-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809091940/https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9780763679361J&name=Smell_My_Foot |url-status=live }} and Egg or Eyeball? (2020),{{Cite web |title=Egg or Eyeball?: Chick and Brain by Cece Bell |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781536204391J&name=Egg_or_Eyeball |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Junior Library Guild |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130025022/https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781536204391J&name=Egg_or_Eyeball |url-status=live }}
In 2014, El Deafo was named one of the best books of the year by The Horn Book Magazine,{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Horn Book Fanfare 1938 to present |url=https://www.hbook.com/story/horn-book-fanfare-1938-to-present |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=The Horn Book |archive-date=October 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030013103/https://www.hbook.com/story/horn-book-fanfare-1938-to-present |url-status=live }} Kirkus Reviews,{{Cite web |date=2014-07-22 |title=El Deafo |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/cece-bell/el-deafo/ |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=March 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320225109/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/cece-bell/el-deafo/ |url-status=live }} the Los Angeles Public Library, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal. It was also a New York Times Notable Children’s Book.
In 2019, Smell My Foot! was named one of the best books of the year by the Chicago Public Library and School Library Journal.
Publications
= As author and illustrator =
== Standalone books ==
- Busy Buddies: Silly Stuff That Goes Together (2006, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-2776-8}})
- Food Friends: Fun Foods That Go Together (2006, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-2777-5}})
- Bee-Wigged (2008, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-3614-2}})
- Itty Bitty (2009, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-3616-6}})
- El Deafo (2014, Harry N. Abrams, {{Isbn|978-1-4197-1020-9}})
- I Yam a Donkey! (2015, Clarion Books, {{Isbn|978-0-5440-8720-0}})
- Chuck and Woodchuck (2016, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-7524-0}})
- You Loves Ewe! (2019, Clarion Books, {{Isbn|978-1-3285-2611-3}})
- [https://animalalbums.com/ Animal Albums from A to Z] (2024, Candlewick Press, {{ISBN|978-1-5362-2624-9}})
== Sock Monkey trilogy (2003-2006) ==
- Sock Monkey Goes To Hollywood: A Star Is Bathed (2003, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7445-9850-6}})
- Sock Monkey Boogie Woogie: A Friend Is Made (2004, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-2392-0}})
- Sock Monkey Rides Again (2006, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-3089-8}})
== Rabbit & Robot duo (2012-2016) ==
- The Sleepover (2012, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-7935-4}})
- Rabbit and Robot and Ribbit (2016, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-7935-4}})
== Inspector Flytrap trilogy (2016-2017) ==
- Inspector Flytrap with Tom Angleberger (2016, Amulet Books, {{Isbn|978-1-4197-0948-7}})
- Inspector Flytrap in The President’s Mane Is Missing with Tom Angleberger (2016, Harry N. Abrams, {{Isbn|978-1-4197-0955-5}})
- Inspector Flytrap in The Goat Who Chewed Too Much with Tom Angleberger (2017, Harry N. Abrams, {{Isbn|978-1-4197-0956-2}})
== Chick and Brain duo (2019-2020) ==
- Smell My Foot! (2019, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-0-7636-7936-1}})
- Egg or Eyeball? (2020, Candlewick Press, {{Isbn|978-1-5362-0439-1}})
= As contributor =
- The Best American Comics 2016, edited by Roz Chast and Bill Kartalopoulos (2016, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, {{Isbn|978-0-5447-5035-7}})
- Lunch! (2016, Random House Books for Young Readers, {{Isbn|978-0-5535-1264-9}})
- Funny Girl, edited by Betsy Bird (2017, Viking Press)
= As illustrator =
- The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee, written by Tom Angleberger (2012, Harry N. Abrams, {{Isbn|978-1-4197-0392-8}})
- Bug Patrol, written by Denise Dowling Mortensen (2013, Clarion Books, {{Isbn|978-0-6187-9024-1}})
- Crankee Doodle, written by Tom Angleberger (2013, Clarion Books, {{Isbn|978-0-5478-1854-2}})
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
- {{official website}}
- {{LCAuth|n2003037196|Cece Bell|14|}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Cece}}
Category:American children's writers
Category:Newbery Honor winners
Category:Writers from Richmond, Virginia