Cece Bell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cece Bell
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Bell in 2024
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| Born | December 26, 1970 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer, cartoonist, illustrator |
| Education | Paier College of Art |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Spouse | Tom Angleberger |
| Children | 2 |
Cecelia Carolina Bell is an American author, cartoonist, and illustrator born on December 26, 1970, in Richmond, Virginia. She creates fun children's books and stories. She is most famous for writing and drawing the popular graphic novel El Deafo. Her art and writing have appeared in magazines like The Atlantic, Vegetarian Times, Newsweek, Working Woman, and Esquire, as well as the newspaper Los Angeles Times.
Contents
Early Life and Education
When she was a young child, Bell had an illness called meningitis. This sickness caused her hearing loss. Because she was deaf, she had to wear special hearing aid equipment to school. These bulky listening devices were very visible to her classmates, which sometimes made her feel different.
Bell loved to make art. She studied art at the Paier College of Art. Later, she earned a graduate degree in design and illustration from Kent State University in 1991. After college, she worked as an independent artist and illustrator. She designed many cool projects before choosing to create books full-time.
The Story Behind El Deafo
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Bell wrote the famous graphic novel El Deafo about her real experiences growing up. She wanted to teach hearing people how to communicate kindly with deaf people. She also wanted deaf children to see themselves portrayed as wonderful heroes in books.
In the book, Bell draws everyone as a rabbit. She picked rabbits because they have huge ears and great hearing. When she was young, she felt like the only rabbit whose ears did not work. Using this clever idea, she showed that being deaf is not a bad thing at all.
The title comes from how she felt wearing her school device called the Phonic Ear. The special machine let her hear her teacher from anywhere in the school. It made her feel like a powerful superhero with special listening abilities.
Major Awards and Achievements
Bell won major prizes for El Deafo, including a Newbery Medal Honor and the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Kids. It was also named a best book of the year by The Horn Book Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, the Los Angeles Public Library, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal. The New York Times called it a Notable Children's Book.
Her delightful series about friendship called Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover won a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor. Bell also earned another Geisel Honor for her funny early reader book Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot!. In addition, five of her creations became selections for the Junior Library Guild.
Family and Fun Books
Bell is married to fellow children's author Tom Angleberger. Together, they worked on the funny book series Inspector Flytrap. She also drew pictures for books he wrote, such as The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee and Crankee Doodle. Bell continues to write silly adventures, like the Sock Monkey series and Animal Albums from A to Z, that make young readers smile.
See also
In Spanish: Cece Bell para niños
