Kelly Murphy is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, illustrator and educator. She is based in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

Early life

Murphy was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in southeastern Massachusetts. She attended the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

(RISD) in

. Her student work receiving distinction from the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

of New York. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration in 1999, Murphy started a freelance career as an editorial and

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 ...

illustrator.

Career

She wrote and illustrated her first picture book, ''The Boll Weevil Ball'', in 2002 and has since illustrated more than 40 books for children, including stories written by authors

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...

, J. Patrick Lewis,

Linda Sue Park Linda Sue Park (born March 25, 1960) is a Korean-American author who published her first novel, ''Seesaw Girl'', in 1999. She has written six children's novels and five picture books. Park's work achieved prominence when she received the presti ...

, Richard Peck,

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was ...

and

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is ''The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. He ...

. Murphy has also created artwork for theater, film and animation, including character designs for the Sesame Workshop animated show ''

Esme & Roy ''Esme & Roy'' is an animated children's television series created by Dustin Ferrer and Amy Steinberg. The series is produced by Canada-based animation studio Nelvana and ''Sesame Street'' creator Sesame Workshop, in association with Corus Ente ...

'' on HBO, and the 2013 documentary ''

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, the population of Muscle Shoals was 13,146. The estimated popu ...

''. She has taught at the

Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...

and

Montserrat College of Art Montserrat College of Art is a private, non-profit art college located in Beverly within Essex County of Massachusetts. The school is accredited by both the New England Commission of Higher Education and the National Association of Schools of A ...

, and is a faculty member of the

Awards

In 2009 Murphy earned an E.B. White Read Aloud Award for illustrating the New York Times Best Seller '' Masterpiece'', written by Elise Broach. She subsequently illustrated books in a companion series for younger readers, ''The Masterpiece Adventures'', by the same author. In 2019 ''All the Greys on Greene Street'', written by Laura Tucker and illustrated by Murphy, was distinguished as a best book of the year by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', '' Kirkus Reviews'', BookPage and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''.

Exhibitions

Murphy was one of 5 artists whose work was exhibited in the 18th Annual Children's Book Illustrators' Show & Signing at the Chemers Gallery in Tustin, CA in 2009. Murphy's original art was exhibited in the 2010 Children's Book Illustrators Exhibition at the Brush Art Gallery & Studios, with fellow RISD alumni illustrators Christopher Bing,

David Macaulay David Macaulay (born 2 December 1946) is a British-born American illustrator and writer. His works include ''Cathedral'' (1973), '' The Way Things Work'' (1988) and ''The New Way Things Work'' (1998). His illustrations have been featured in ...

and

David Wiesner David Wiesner (born February 5, 1956) is an American illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for picture books including some that tell stories without words. As an illustrator he has won three Caldecott Medals recognizing the ye ...

. Murphy's work has been exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration in New York City, NY. In 2012, Murphy's work received a Gold Award in the Illustration West 50 competition and was exhibited at the Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, California. Murphy was also chosen from RISD's illustrious alumni as one of the artists featured in RISD ICONS: A Legacy of Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design exhibit at the Woods Gerry Gallery. In 2014, Murphy was a keynote speaker at the

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers ...

2014 Writers & Illustrators Working Conference in Austin, Texas. Murphy is one of the illustrators and authors presenting at the Lincoln School's 2018 Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors.

Bibliography

Chapter books

* '' Masterpiece'' (2008, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach) * ''Flight of the Phoenix ( Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book 1)'' (2009, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers) * ''The Basilisk's Lair ( Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book 2)'' (2010, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers) * ''The Wyverns' Treasure ( Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book 3)'' (2010, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers) * ''Haunted Houses (Are You Scared Yet?)'' (2010, Co-illustrated with Antoine Revoy, written by Robert D. San Souci) * ''The Unicorn's Tale ( Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book 4)'' (2011, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers) * '' Secrets at Sea'' (2011, Illustrator, written by Richard Peck) * ''Alex and the Amazing Time Machine'' (2012, Illustrator, written by

Rich Cohen Rich Cohen (born July 30, 1968) is an American non-fiction writer. He is a contributing editor at '' Vanity Fair'' and ''Rolling Stone''. He is co-creator, with Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter, of the HBO series ''Vinyl''. His ...

) * ''The Scorpions of Zahir'' (2012, Illustrator, written by Christine Brodien-Jones) * ''Behind the Bookcase'' (2012, Illustrator, written by Mark Steensland) * '' The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail'' (2013, Illustrator, written by Richard Peck) * ''Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea'' (2013, Illustrator, written by Lisa and Valerie Martin) * ''The Miniature World of Marvin and James'' (2014, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach) * ''The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 1: The Case of the Missing Moonstone'' (2015, Illustrator, written by Jordan Stratford) * ''James to the Rescue'' (2015, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach) * ''The Door by the Staircase'' (2016, Illustrator, written by Katherine Marsh) * ''The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 2: The Case of the Girl in Grey'' (2016, Illustrator, written by Jordan Stratford) * ''Anton and Cecil: Cats Aloft'' (2016, Illustrator, written by Lisa and Valerie Martin) * ''The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 3: The Case of the Counterfeit Criminals'' (2017, Illustrator, written by Jordan Stratford) * ''Trouble at School for Marvin & James'' (2017, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach) * ''A Properly Unhaunted Place'' (2017, Illustrator, written by William Alexander) * ''The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 4: The Case of the Perilous Palace'' (2018, Illustrator, written by Jordan Stratford) * ''A Festival of Ghosts'' (2018, Illustrator, written by William Alexander) * ''All The Greys on Greene Street'' (2019, Illustrator, written by Laura Tucker) *''A Trip to the Country for Marvin & James'' (2020, Illustrator, written by Elise Broach) *''Happily for Now'' (2021, Illustrator, written by Kelly Jones) *''Ginny Off the Map'' (2023, Illustrator, written by Caroline Hickey)

Picture books

* ''The Boll Weevil Ball'' (2002) * ''A Place To Grow'' (2002, Illustrator, written by Stephanie Bloom) * ''Loony Little'' (2003, Illustrator, written by Dianna Hutts Aston) * ''Dancing Matilda'' (2004, Illustrator, written by Sarah Hager) * ''Good Babies'' (2005, Illustrator, written by Tim Myers) * ''Fiona's Luck'' (2007, Illustrator, written by Teresa Bateman) * ''Gallop-O-Gallop'' (2007, Illustrator, written by Sandra Alonso) * ''Hush, Little Dragon'' (2008, Illustrator, written by Boni Ashburn) * ''The Peach Boy'' (2009, Illustrator, written by Alex Frith) * ''Brand-New Baby Blues'' (2009, Illustrator, written by Kathi Appelt) * ''Over At The Castle'' (2009, Illustrator, written by Boni Ashburn) * ''Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters'' (2011, Illustrator, written by

) * ''Face Bug'' (2013, Illustrator, written by J. Patrick Lewis, photographs by Fred Siskind) * ''Romping Monsters, Stomping Monsters'' (2013, Illustrator, written by

) * ''The Slowest Book Ever'' (2016, Illustrator, written by April Pulley Sayre) * ''Together We Grow'' (2020, Illustrator, written by Susan Vaught) * ''Faraway Things'' (2021, Illustrator, written by

) * ''Dakota Crumb: Tiny Treasure Hunter'' (2021, Illustrator, written by Jamie Michalak)

References

External links

Kelly Murphy's official website

Kelly Murphy on the Macmillan's Authors page

Kelly Murphy on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Illustrator page

Kelly Murphy , Official Publisher Page , Simon & Schuster
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Kelly Living people People from Boston Rhode Island School of Design alumni Rhode Island School of Design faculty American illustrators American women illustrators American children's writers American children's book illustrators Writers who illustrated their own writing 1977 births Montserrat College of Art faculty Massachusetts College of Art and Design faculty American women academics 21st-century American women