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 ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

'' Old Bear and Friends,'' which became the basis for a BAFTA award-winning television series ''

Old Bear Stories ''Old Bear Stories'' is a BAFTA award-winning stop frame animation television series for children based on the Old Bear and Friends books by Jane Hissey. Jane Hissey also created the television series, starting it on 24 September 1993, and cre ...

'', episodes of which were released on VHS by

Carlton Video ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadca ...

Biography

Hissey was born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

and attended

Norwich High School for Girls Norwich High School for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18 in Norwich, England. The school was founded in 1875 by the Girls’ Public Day School Company (now the Girls' Day School Trust), which aimed to establish schools ...

. She studied Design and Illustration at Brighton. She taught Art at a

sixth form college A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...

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

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