Colleen and Zed Jacey are a mother (illustrator) and daughter (writer) team.
Zed Jacey is a pen name that Zoë adopted based on her initials – Z J C. Zoë is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and has a MA in ‘Writing for Young People’ from Bath Spa University. By day she is a freelance public sector project manager and author of NHS reports and business cases while by night she is a lecturer in creative writing at the Heart of Worcestershire College and the author of the reviews for Madge Eekal.
Colleen studied art at college and subsequently completed a specialist course in illustration and design. She has over twenty years’ experience teaching 3 to 7 year olds but now spends her time drawing and painting.
Colleen takes time from her artwork to comment on the illustrations for Madge’s picture book reviews and, with a little help from Zoë, has also contributed articles on art technique to specialist magazines. For example:
School Visits
Colleen and Zoë enjoy doing school visits (although Zoë finds it slightly disconcerting that the pupils frequently think they are sisters despite the 28 year age gap).
Please use the contact tab above if you’re interested in arranging a school visit but note that Colleen only attends visits within the Midlands and Zoë needs plenty of notice to juggle her day job.
School events are largely focused on Key Stage 1 but Colleen and Zoë have developed a successful whole school presentation on ‘How to Write a Picture Book’ (see below). This interactive session works with everyone from Reception Class to the oldest and most cynical teachers.
Colleen and Zoë’s first picture book was Odd Job Frog and their most recent is Madge Eekal’s Christmas.
