Cece Bell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cece Bell
Bell in 2024
Born	(1970-12-26) December 26, 1970 (age 54) 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 (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

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.

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.

Personal life

Bell is married to children's author Tom Angleberger.

Bell at the 2019 National Book Festival

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), El Deafo (2014), Rabbit & Robot and Ribbit (2016), Smell My Foot!: Chick and Brain (2019), and Egg or Eyeball? (2020),

In 2014, El Deafo was named one of the best books of the year by The Horn Book Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, 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.

See also

In Spanish: Cece Bell para niños