Cece Bell

Cece Bell studied at College of William & Mary and Kent State University. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is children's and young adult literature, illustration and graphics. Distinctions recorded are spoon theory prize child.

• Name — Cece Bell • Born — 26 December 1970 • Birthplace — Richmond, Virginia, U.S. • Occupation — Writer, cartoonist, illustrator • Years Active — 1991–present • Genre — Children's literature • Education — Paier College of Art • Website — cecebell.com/ • Spouse — Tom Angleberger • Children — 2

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.

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.

Bell is married to children's author Tom Angleberger. • Illustration — Bell at the 2019 National Book Festival

• Sock Monkey Goes To Hollywood: A Star Is Bathed (2003, Candlewick Press) • Sock Monkey Boogie Woogie: A Friend Is Made (2004, Candlewick Press) • Sock Monkey Rides Again (2006, Candlewick Press)

• The Sleepover (2012, Candlewick Press) • Rabbit and Robot and Ribbit (2016, Candlewick Press)

• Inspector Flytrap with Tom Angleberger (2016, Amulet Books) • Inspector Flytrap in The President’s Mane Is Missing with Tom Angleberger (2016, Harry N. Abrams) • Inspector Flytrap in The Goat Who Chewed Too Much with Tom Angleberger (2017, Harry N. Abrams)

• Smell My Foot! (2019, Candlewick Press) • Egg or Eyeball? (2020, Candlewick Press)

• The Best American Comics 2016, edited by Roz Chast and Bill Kartalopoulos (2016, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) • Lunch! (2016, Random House Books for Young Readers) • Funny Girl, edited by Betsy Bird (2017, Viking Press)