Author & Illustrator
Meet Cece Beans
Cece Beans is the author and illustrator of the Be and Breathe series, rhyming picture books about big feelings, small breaths, and the magic that happens when we learn to pause.
Cece has been doodling and drawing ever since her 7th grade art class. Creativity is her passion, but writing is her love language.
It started with a song in the car
Before Grumpy Duck was a book, it was a lullaby Cece made up for her kids on hard days. Years later, it became the first book in the Be and Breathe series: picture books built around real, usable calming techniques that families can carry off the page and into the messy moments of everyday life.
Her own journey with big feelings is woven into every page. Inspired by the playful rhymes of Shel Silverstein, Cece believes the best stories make you smile and make you think, and that a good rhyme can teach a child something a lecture never could.
Made by a mom, for the parents living the same moments
Cece lives in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, where she has spent years as a biological, foster, and adoptive mother. She knows firsthand that big emotions don't come with an off switch, and that the most powerful thing you can teach a child is how to find calm from the inside out.
- Foster and adoptive mom, raising neurodivergent kids
- A believer in therapy, for kids and for the grown-ups they go home to
- Homeschool mom of 10+ years, and a big supporter of whatever schooling option works for each family
- Local Charlottesville, Virginia author and indie small business owner
The Be and Breathe series was written for every child learning to feel their feelings,
and for every grown-up learning right alongside them.
Big feelings, little breaths.
Follow along on Instagram: @CeceBeans.Author