JESSEL, Camilla (Ruth) 1937-

PERSONAL: Born December 7, 1937, in Bearsted, Kent, England; daughter of Richard Frederick (a naval officer) and Winifred May (Levy) Jessel; married Andrzej Panufnik (a symphonic composer), November 27, 1963; children: Roxanna Anna, Jeremy James. Education: University of Paris, Sorbonne, degree superieur, 1959. Hobbies and other interests: Music, theatre, art, ballet, literature, international politics.

ADDRESSES: Home—Riverside House, Twickenham TW1 3JD, England. Agent—David Higham Associates Ltd., 5-8 Lower John St., London W1R 4HA, England.

CAREER: Photographer and author. Former vice chairperson of Home Welfare Committee; Save the Children United Kingdom child care committee, member and vice chairperson, 1969-84; Cranborne Chase School, Wiltshire, England, school governor; Park Lane Group (for young musicians), council member. Exhibitions: Work shown in group and solo photographic exhibitions in England at Royal Festival Hall, Arts Theatre Club, Photographers Gallery, and Royal Photographic Society.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grant from Nuffield Foundation, 1972; Royal Photographic Society fellowship, 1980.

WRITINGS:

FOR CHILDREN; AND PHOTOGRAPHER

Manuela Lives in Portugal ("Children Everywhere" series), Hastings House (New York, NY), 1967.

Paul in Hospital, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1972.

Mark's Wheelchair Adventures, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1975.

Life at the Royal Ballet School, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1979, revised, 1985.

The Puppy Book, Methuen Children's Books (New York), 1980.

The New Baby, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1981.

Moving House, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1981.

Going to the Doctor, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1981.

Away for the Night, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1981.

Lost and Found, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1983.

At Playgroup, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1983.

Going to Hospital, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1983.

The Baby-sitter, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1983.

Learner Bird, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1983.

If You Meet a Stranger, Walker Books (London, England), 1990.

The Puppy Book, Walker Books (London, England), 1991, revised edition, 1993, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 1994.

The Kitten Book, Walker Books (London, England), 1991, revised edition, 1993, Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA), 1994.

Ballet School: What It Takes to Make a Dancer, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1999, Viking (New York, NY), 2000.

"BABYDAYS" SERIES; AND PHOTOGRAPHER

Baby's Day, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1985.

Baby's Toys, Methuen Children's Books (London, >England), 1985.

Baby's Bedtime, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1985.

Baby's Clothes, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1985.

Baby's Food, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1986.

Where Is Baby?, Methuen Children's Books (London, England), 1986.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Dorothy Shuttlesworth, The Tower of London: Grim and Glamorous, Hastings House (New York, NY), 1970.

Susan Harvey, Play in Hospital, Faber (London, England), 1972.

David Watkins, Complete Method for the Harp, Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1972.

Penelope Leach, Baby and Child: A Modern Parent's Guide, Knopf (New York, NY), 1978.

Sheila Kitzinger, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Knopf (New York, NY), 1980.

David Moore, Multi-Cultural Britain (booklet), Save the Children, 1980.

Miriam Stoppard, Fifty-plus Life Guide: How to Ensure Fitness, Health, and Happiness in the Middle Years and Beyond, Dorling Kindersley (London, England), 1983.

Esther Rantzen and Desmond Wilcox, Baby Love, Rainbird, 1985.

Contributor of photographs to newspapers.

OTHER

(Lyricist) Andrej Panufnik, Thames Pageant (cantata for children), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1969.

(Lyricist) Andrej Panufnik, Winter Solstice (cantata), Boosey & Hawkes (London, England), 1972.

The Joy of Birth: A Book for Parents and Children, Dial Press (New York, NY), 1982.

Catching the Moment: Photographing Your Child, Dutton (New York, NY), 1985.

The Taste of Spain: Traditional Spanish Recipes and Their Origins, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1990.

Birth to Three: A Parents' Guide to Child Development, Bloomsbury (London, England), 1990, published as From Birth to Three: An Illustrated Journey through Your Child's Early Physical and Emotional Development, Delta (New York, NY), 1991.

SIDELIGHTS: Photographer and author Camilla Jessel has enjoyed a career that allows her to explore her wide-ranging interests and share them with young children. Interested in child welfare and development, Jessel has created several series of toddler-sized books designed to assist youngsters in making connections, understanding abstract concepts, and learning the howto's of life, while in photo-essays for older children and teens she explores personal health and safety issues. Among her many titles for children are The Joy of Birth, The Puppy Book, and If You Meet a Stranger, while From Birth to Three: An Illustrated Journey through Your Child's Early Physical and Emotional Development presents parents with photographs that provide what Booklist contributor Tracie Richardson dubbed a "beautiful and convincing depiction . . . of a child's growth."

Jessel was born in Kent, England, in 1937. Because of her father's career in the Royal Navy, her family was required to move, and by the time she was a teen she was living in South India and would soon spend a year in Paris studying French literature and civilization. "At the age of twenty," Jessel once noted, "I went to America with about one hundred dollars and had twenty-six different temporary secretarial jobs in six cities in one year: Princeton, Washington, New York, New Orleans, Dallas, and San Francisco."

Jessel's illustration career began by chance, after she shot some promotional photographs for the organization Save the Children, where she worked. The organization's press officer "liked the amateur shots I'd done of the organization's work. These fund-raising photos were followed by lots of hard work and lucky breaks." Working as a freelancer, Jessel sold photoessays to newspapers such as the Times Educational Supplement, and after two of her photographs made it to the pages of the London Guardian, she was offered her first book contract with Methuen, where she created Manuela Lives in Portugal for their "Children Everywhere" series.

Jessel's first books, as well as many of her books since, were inspired by her interest in child development. "Doing color slides for a lecture on the psychology of play of children in the hospital, I got the idea of doing a photographic book to overcome children's fears of the hospital," she once explained. After Paul in Hospital was published, Jessel was given a grant for Mark's Wheelchair Adventure, a similar project that focuses on a young boy with a disability. Her 1982 work The Joy of Birth: A Book for Parents and Children features more than 100 photographs among its text outlining conception, birth, and the proper care of newborns. Praising Jessel's text as "well-written," a Junior Bookshelf contributor added that the "beautifully produced book" would be invaluable to parents seeking to educate their children about "the wonder and joy of motherhood." In Booklist, Denise M. Wilms praised The Joy of Birth as "a warm, realistic straighforward presentation" of "sensitive material."

Jessel's career as a photographer has allowed her to continue traveling, and assignments have taken her throughout both Africa and Europe. Her marriage in 1963 to an internationally known orchestra conductor and composer has also allowed her to explore parts of South America. Her love of music, art, and the dance also inspired her popular books Life at the Royal Ballet School and Ballet School: What It Takes to Make a Dancer which feature actual students of the dance. The more recent, Ballet School, takes readers on a year-long stay behind the scenes at England's Royal Ballet School, and reveals what a Magpies reviewer described as "the dedication, passion and training required in becoming a professional ballet dancer." From the audition process through classes building dance technique and academic skills through recitals and performances, Ballet School "succinctly and honestly describes the unrelenting practice and commitment required to participate in the school's program," according to the Magpies contributor. A Kirkus reviewer praised Jessel's "brisk" text and "realistic attitude" about most students' chance of ultimate success in the field of professional dance, and recommended Ballet School as a top choice for parents to give to "the artistic aspirants they care about most deeply."

As Jessel explained, "Some books have just 'happened.'" The Puppy Book, for instance, was photographed when Saffy, her family's Labrador retriever, gave birth to nine puppies. Jessel's children also figure in the story, as they watch the pups develop and, as School Library Journal reviewer Carol Kolb Phillips noted, "sadly say goodbye when the animals leave for new homes." An accompanying volume, The Kitten Book, focuses on a Burmese mother cat and her adorable litter. Praising both books for their "caring, supportive tone," a Publishers Weekly contributor added that Jessel's photographs are "captivating" and "wellcomposed," while Phillips dubbed The Puppy Book "truly charming."

Another book with its roots in Jessel's family is Learner Bird, which follows the fate of a baby thrush rescued by the photographer's then-eleven-year-old son. Citing Jessel's approach to the animal rescue as "totally unsentimental and accurate," a Growing Point reviewer noted that in Learner Bird the message for readers is that "wild birds are not pets." In her review for the Times Educational Supplement, Francesca Greenoak praised the factual information Jessel provides about the natural world, and pronounced Learner Bird "a super book."

In addition to building her own career as a successful photographer and illustrator, Jessel has also managed to raise her two children and work as her husband's business manager. "I enjoy being domestic—cooking, dressmaking—as well as having a career," she once noted. "I believe it's possible to be both liberated and a dedicated wife and mother."

Jessel's inspiration for her work is an "interest in children and my wish to use photography to combat prejudice and fear, such as the prejudice against the disabled or members of other races; I also want to use photography to educate children and to educate adults to be of more use to children. There is also my sheer enjoyment of photography and an attempt to heighten my own aesthetic standards."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 15, 1983, Denise M. Wilms, review of The Joy of Birth, p. 1340; Marcy 15, 1991, Tracie Richardson, review of From Birth to Three: An Illustrated Journey through Your Child's EarlyPhysical and Emotional Development, p. 1439; October 15, 1991, Sally Estes, review of The Taste of Spain, p. 393; February 1, 1992, Stephanie Zvirin, review of The Puppy Book and The Kitten Book, p. 1032; January 1, 2000, Carolyn Phelan, review of Ballet School, p. 910.

Books for Your Child, autumn, 1986, review of Life at the Royal Ballet School, p. 14.

Daily Telegraph (London, England), August 24, 1979.

Growing Point, September, 1983, review of Learner Bird, pp. 4127-4128; May, 1990, review of If You Meet a Stranger, pp. 5353-5354.

Guardian (London, England), August 24, 1979.

Junior Bookshelf, February, 1983, review of The Joy of Birth, p. 27; December, 1983, review of Lost and Found, pp. 244-245; February, 1984, review of Learner Bird, p. 24; February, 1986, review of Baby's Bedtime, p. 24; April, 1990, review of If You Meet a Stranger, p. 86.

Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 1992, review of The Kitten Book, p. 185; December 15, 1999, review of Ballet School, p. 1958.

Magpies, May, 2001, review of Ballet School, p. 42.

Publishers Weekly, February 3, 1992, review of The Puppy Book and The Kitten Book, p. 81.

School Librarian, March, 1982, Cliff Moon, review of Away for the Night, p. 28; August, 1990, review of If You Meet a Stranger, p. 102.

School Library Journal, April, 1992, review of The Kitten Book, p. 106; July, 1992, Carol Kolb Philips, review of The Puppy Book, p. 69; February, 2000, Ann W. Moore, review of Ballet School, p. 134.

Times Educational Supplement, March 9, 1984, Francesca Greenoak, review of Learner Bird, p. 54; October 25, 1985, Victoria Neumark, review of Baby's Toys, p. 31; March 7, 1986, Jenny Gilbert, review of Baby's Clothes, p. 25.

Times Literary Supplement, August 2, 1985, Frances Spalding, review of Baby's Day, p. 862.

Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 1983, Elizabeth Paddock, review of The Joy of Birth, p. 292.

Wilson Library Bulletin, May, 1992, review of The Puppy Book and The Kitten Book, p. 138.*