Willey, Bee

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Willey, Bee

Personal

Female.

Addresses

Home and office—Suffolk, England.

Career

Illustrator and commercial artist.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Awards, Honors

Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist, 2003, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, for Bob Robber and Dancing Jane.

Writings

(With Susannah English, and Rhian Nest James) In the Town, Ginn (Aylesbury, England), 1993.

Geraldine McCaughrean, The Golden Hoard: Myths and Legends of the World, Orion (London, England), 1995.

Anne Cassidy, Spider Pie, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1995.

Geraldine McCaughrean, The Silver Treasure: Myths and Legends of the World, Orion (London, England), 1996.

Edward Lear, Nonsense Songs, Orion (London, England), 1996.

Michael Rosen, The Zoo at Night: Verses, Tradewind (London, England), 1996.

Michael Rosen, Michael Rosen's ABC, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1996.

John Mole, Copy Cat, Kingfisher (London, England), 1997.

Karen Wallace, Blue Eyes, Hodder Children's (London, England), 1997.

Geraldine McCaughrean, The Bronze Cauldron, Orion (London, England), 1997.

Leon Rosselson, Emiliano's Wickedness, Macdonald Young (Hove, England), 1997.

Geraldine McCaughrean, The Crystal Pool: Myths and Legends around the World, Orion (London, England), 1998.

Lori Reid, Sweet Dreamer: A Guide to Understanding Your Dreams, Element Children's (Shaftesbury, England), 1998.

Sandra Ann Horn, Rory McRory, Macdonald Young (Hove, England), 1998.

Meredith Hooper, The Pear Tree: An Animal Counting Book, Macmillan Children's (London, England), 1998.

Maddie Stewart, Peg, Mammoth (London, England), 1999.

Grace Nichols, The Poet Cat, Bloomsbury Children's (London, England), 2000.

Meredith Hooper, River Story, Walker (London, England), 2000.

Geraldine McCaughrean, One Hundred World Myths and Legends, Orion (London, England), 2001.

Ita Daly, Irish Myths and Legends, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2001.

John Mole, The Wonder Dish: Poems, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2002.

Andrew Matthews, Bob Robber and Dancing Jane, Jonathan Cape (London, England), 2003.

Geraldine McCaughrean, The Jesse Tree, Lion (Oxford, England), 2003.

Shahrukh Husain Egypt, Evans (London, England), 2004.

Shahrukh Husain, Rome, Evans (London, England), 2004.

Shahrukh Husain, Greece, Evans (London, England), 2004.

Joan Aiken, The Wooden Dragon, Jonathan Cape (London, England), 2004.

Shahrukh Husain, Indian Myths, Evans (London, England), 2005.

Shahrukh Husain, The Vikings, Smart Apple Media (North Mankato, MN), 2005.

Shahrukh Husain, African Myths, Evans (London, England), 2006.

Meredith Hooper, Celebrity Cat, Frances Lincoln (London, England), 2006.

Sidelights

Bee Willey has illustrated over twenty children's books in addition to her work creating art for companies such as Mattel and the British Royal Mail. Willey typically incorporates digitally produced elements into her illustrations, and then offsets these computer images with her original ink line drawings. Her stylistic art has been credited for its eccentric and energetic design. For example, her contributions to Meredith Hooper's Celebrity Cat features human-like felines with large eyes. A Kirkus Reviews critic acknowledged the book's artwork for incorporating "unusual details." Carolyn Phelan, in a review of Celebrity Cat for Booklist, observed Willey's ability to subtlety change her artistic method between pages and commented that the illustrations in Celebrity Cat diverge "in style, with areas of clearly delineated drawings and other places softened to fuzziness." Willey's use of bold color is another characteristic of her art, according to Carolyn Janssen, the critic remarking in her School Library Journal review of Celebrity Cat that "bright colors and smooth surfaces give a luminescence to the pages."

Willey takes on another feline-centered project in illustrating Copy Cat, a picture book with a text by John Mole. The book centers on a cat that mimics the actions of a young boy named Oliver. The tables are turned, however, when Oliver starts copying the cat's actions by climbing up trees and jumping up onto tabletops. Willey's creative usage of colors in this project was cited by a Publishers Weekly critic who commented that her "energetic gouache paintings in blacklight purple, chartreuse and flame orange lend the book an electric flair."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 1996, Hazel Rochman, review of The Golden Hoard: Myths and Legends of the World, p. 1501; April 1, 1997, Carolyn Phelan, review of Nonsense Songs, p. 1335; April 15, 1997, Karen Morgan, review of The Silver Treasure: Myths and Legends of the World, p. 1424; June 1, 1997, Kathleen Squires, review of Michael Rosen's ABC, p. 1712; May 15, 1998, John Peters, review of The Bronze Cauldron, p. 1624; May 15, 1999, John Peters, review of The Crystal Pool: Myths and Legends of the World, p. 1694; July, 2000, Michael Cart, review of River Story, p. 2038; June 1, 2001, Jennifer Mattson, review of Irish Myths and Legends, p. 1866; October 1, 2005, Jennifer Mattson, review of The Jesse Tree, p. 70; November 16, 2006, review of Celebrity Cat, p. 53.

Book Report, November-December, 2001, Heather Hepler, review of Irish Myths and Legends, p. 68.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, July, 1996, review of The Golden Hand, p. 379; June, 1997, review of The Silver Treasure, p. 366; July, 1998, review of The Bronze Cauldron, p. 403; September, 1999, review of The Crystal Pool, p. 22.

Horn Book, May-June, 1996, Maria B. Salvadore, review of The Golden Hoard, p. 211.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2003, review of Bob Robber and Dancing Jane, p. 1127; January 1, 2005, review of The Wooden Dragon, p. 73; October 15, 2006, Meredith Hooper, review of Celebrity Cat, p. 1072.

Publishers Weekly, April 15, 1996, Cheri Estes, review of The Golden Hoard, p. 211; March 3, 1997, review of Michael Rosen's ABC, p. 77; June, 1997, Kathleen Whalin, review of Nonsense Songs, p. 109; September 1, 1997, review of Copy Cat, p. 103; May 11, 1998, review of Sweet Dreamer, p. 70; May 11, 1998, review of The Bronze Cauldron, p. 68; May 10, 1999, review of Telling Tales, p. 69; June 10, 2000, review of River Story, p. 106; May 10, 1999, review of The Celebrity Cat, p. 100; August 29, 2005, review of The Jesse Tree, p. 60.

School Library Journal, March, 1996, Cheri Estes, review of The Golden Hoard, p. 165; December, 1996, review of The Golden Hoard, p. 31; April, 1997, Patricia Lothrop-Green, review of The Silver Treasure, p. 153; March, 1997, Tana Elias, review of Michael Rosen's ABC, p. 165; July, 1998, Angela J. Reynolds, review of The Bronze Cauldron, p. 108; August, 2000, Judith Constantinides, review of River Story, p. 170; June, 1997, Kathleen Whalin, review of Nonsense Songs, p. 109; Sally R. Dow, September, 1997, review of Copy Cat, p. 188; August, 1999, Angela J. Reynolds, review of The Crystal Pool, p. 174; May, 2005, Judith Constantinides, review of Egypt, p. 109; January, 2006, Linda L. Walkins, review of The Jesse Tree, p. 106; December, 2006, Carolyn Janssen, review of Celebrity Cat, p. 100.

Times Educational Supplement, February 2, 1996, review of Michael Rosen's ABC, p. 12; November 7, 1997, review of Myths and Legends of the World, p. 8; February 26, 1999, review of The Pear Tree: An Animal Counting Book, p. 23; September 22, 2000, review of River Story, p. 9; January 26, 2001, review of The Poet Cat, p. 20.