Jane Hissey (born 1952) is a British author and illustrator of children's books. She is best known for her series of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

'' Old Bear and Friends,'' which became the basis for a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

award-winning television series '' Old Bear Stories'', episodes of which were released on VHS by Carlton Video.

Biography

Hissey was born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

and attended

Norwich High School for Girls Norwich High School for Girls is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for girls aged 3 to 18 in Norwich, United Kingdom, Norwich, England. The school was founded in 1875 by the Girls' Public Day School Company, Girls’ Pu ...

. She studied Design and Illustration at

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. She taught Art at a

sixth form college A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Edu ...

until the birth of her first child. Hissey and her husband Ivan live in

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. They have three children, Owen, Alison and Ralph.

Old Bear

Hissey has written that "Old Bear" was given to her as a baby by her grandmother. During her childhood he was a main focus of her games, and when she was an adult he provided the inspiration for her first illustrated book. He was later joined by other soft toy characters. In 1986 her ''Old Bear'' was published, and made it into Booklist's "Editor's Choice" list for children's books for that year; in an earlier starred review, Barbara Elleman praised Hissey's use of perspective, texture, and colours.

Other books

*''Hoot'' 1996 - the toys of a bedroom come alive at night

References

External links

Jane Hissey
- Official website British children's writers British illustrators Writers from Norwich Living people 1952 births Artists from Norwich People educated at Norwich High School for Girls {{UK-child-writer-stub