Sheila (Lucas) Bailey (1960-) Biography

Born 1960, in CA; Education: San Jose State University, B.S. (graphic design). Politics: Liberal. Religion: "My own." Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, Koi and other critters.

Career

Author and illustrator. Commercial artist, with clients including Hallmark Cards and Will Vinton Productions, Portland OR. Formerly designed film sets for television production company.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Society of Illustrators, Picture Book Arts.

Honors Awards

iParenting Media Award; Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Portfolio Award.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

It's Halloween, Golden Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Sandy Paws Is Coming to Town!, Golden Books (New York, NY), 1998.

The Wonderful Story of Edgar Elf, Landoll, Inc., 1998.

(With Larry Miller) The Wizard and King Whifflegroan, Portunus Pub. (Carmel, CA), 1999.

ILLUSTRATOR

Arlene Maguire, Special People, Special Ways, Portunus Pub. (Santa Monica, CA), 1999.

Gary Gautier, Spaghetti and Peas, All about Kids Pub. (San Jose, CA), 2002.

Illustrator of numerous other books for Portunus Publications, including We're All Special, by Arlene Maguire, beginning early 1990s.

A cheerful young girl recounts her discovery and daring rescue of a snake family threatened by her own family's cat in Gary Gautier's Spaghetti and Peas. (Illustration by Sheila Bailey.)

Work in Progress

Naughty Samba, and A Bear's Walk, both for Montesori Korea Co., Carla's Sandwich, for Flashlight Press.

Sidelights

Beginnning her career as a commercial artist after graduating from college, Sheila Bailey was inspired to become a book illustrator by a friend, as well as by her appreciation of nineteenth-century picture-book artists such as Edmund Dulac, Jessie Wilcox Smith, and Arthur Rackham. After illustrating a number of books for California-based Portunus Publications, Bailey was motivated to write the text for her 1999 illustrated work, The Wizard and King Whifflegroan, because she wanted to create a story about the environment that would be enjoyable to young children. Written with the help of coauthor Larry Miller, Bailey's story focuses on a young king who refuses to take a bath. Even though the increasingly odorous monarch becomes plagued by swarms of flies that follow him around constantly, he still refuses to bathe. Instead, the king orders the royal wizard to cast a spell that will remove all flies from the kingdom. Aware that such a wish will have an unforseen but unpleasant outcome, the clever wizard agrees to the king's demand on one condition: that when the king asks him to undo the spell because of the negative effects it will have on the environment, his highness will agree to take a daily bath from that day forward, forever.

Bailey told Something about the Author: "I LOVE to read. I love to paint. I started out reading picture books and comic books. It's natural that I would want other people to be as hooked on stories and images as I am.

"I can't believe how many incredibly talented illustrators there are out there. I am a little surprised I am still getting work. I am working on my fifth book for foreign language editions."