Sophie Jocasta Blackall is an Australian artist, author, and illustrator of

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

based in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Early life and education

Blackall was born in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

in 1970. In 1992, Blackall earned a

Bachelor of Design A Bachelor of Design (B.Des. or B.Design) degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree in the field of design awarded for a course or major that generally lasts three or four years. It is the undergraduate equivalent of the Master of Design, ...

from

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

Career

Blackall started her career with various jobs such as painting robotic characters for

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

s, and authoring a household hints column. She also exhibited her paintings at galleries in Sydney and Melbourne. While in Australia, she married and had two children. In 2000 she won a lottery for an immigration visa, and moved her family to Brooklyn, New York, even though she had no certainty of employment. She did various editorial work, and did several animated commercials for the UK market. She began illustrating children's books in collaboration with writers. Her first illustrated book, ''Ruby’s Wish'' by Shirin Yim Bridges, won the

Ezra Jack Keats Book Award The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award is an annual U.S. literary award. At the Ezra Jack Keats Book Awards Ceremony every April, the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation presents the New Writer Award (since 1985) and New Illustrator Award (since 2001) to an au ...

in 2003. Eventually she began writing children's books on her own, as well as continuing her collaborative work. Her first book for adults, ''Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found'' (2011), was based on a

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

for anonymous messages posted online by lovelorn strangers. She did a series of paintings for the book, based on some of these messages, and also made a poster for the

MTA Arts for Transit MTA Arts & Design, formerly known as Arts for Transit and Urban Design, is a commissioned art program directed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the transportation systems serving New York City and the surrounding region. Since 198 ...

program which was displayed in New York City subway cars the following year. Her 2015 collaboration with Emily Jenkins, ''A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat'', was praised by reviewers but became the subject of controversy over its depiction of slavery. She won the 2016

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

for '' Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear'' and the 2019 Caldecott Medal for ''

Hello Lighthouse ''Hello Lighthouse'' is a picture book written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. The book tells the story of a lighthouse and its last keeper and was well received, winning the 2019 Caldecott Medal for its illustrations. Drawing inspiration fro ...

''. , she has illustrated more than 30 books for children, including the ''

Ivy and Bean ''Ivy + Bean'' is a children's book series written by American author Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall, and published by Chronicle Books. Description In the stories, Ivy, a quiet intellectual girl, and Bean, a rambunctious wild gir ...

'' series. For this 10-volume series, she collaborated with author Annie Barrows via email. They did not meet in person until halfway through their work on the series. Blackall has also collaborated with authors such as

Jacqueline Woodson Jacqueline Woodson (born February 12, 1963) is an American writer of books for children and adolescents. She is best known for ''Miracle's Boys'', and her Newbery Honor-winning titles ''Brown Girl Dreaming'', ''After Tupac and D Foster'', ''Feat ...

John Bemelmans Marciano John Bemelmans Marciano (born 1970) is an American children's book author and illustrator. Life The grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans, the creator of the children's book series '' Madeline'', has continued the series with three books written and ill ...

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. H ...

, and

Meg Rosoff Meg Rosoff (born 16 October 1956) is an American writer based in London, United Kingdom. She is best known for the novel '' How I Live Now'' (Puffin, 2004), which won the Guardian Prize, Printz Award, and Branford Boase Award and made the ...

. Her work also includes animated television commercials and editorial illustrations for newspapers and magazines. She hides an image of a whale in every book, in honor of the novel ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whit ...

'', by Herman Melville. Blackall dislikes it when an author refers to an illustrated book as "my book", feeling it diminishes the essential role of the illustrations. She has seriously injured her hand in a fall while working at a children's camp. Rehabilitative physical therapy has only been partially successful; she may have to give up precision drawing, and change her creative methods. She is working on a converting a farmhouse in upstate New York into a retreat for writers and artists, and is thinking of doing more writing herself. Blackall was appointed a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Awards and prizes

List of works

Illustrator

* ''The Witches of Benevento'' series (by

) ** ''Mischief Season'' (2016) ** ''The All-Powerful Ring'' (2016) ** ''Beware the Clopper!'' (2016) ** ''Respect Your Ghosts'' (2017) * ''A Voyage in the Clouds: The (Mostly) True Story of the First International Flight by Balloon in 1785'' (by Matthew Olshan, 2016) * '' Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear'' (by Lindsay Mattick, 2015) * ''A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat'' (by Emily Jenkins, 2015) * ''And Two Boys Booed'' (by

Judith Viorst Judith Viorst (; née Stahl,Aarons, Leroy ''People (magazine)'', February 18, 1980 Vol. 13 No. 7. Accessed August 4, 2016. "Born in Maplewood, N.J., the daughter of an accountant and a mother 'who was a reader and a bridge player,' Judith Stahl ...

, 2014) * ''The Mighty Lalouche'' (by Matthew Olshan, 2013) * ''The 9 Lives of Alexander Baddenfield'' (by

, 2013) * ''

'' series (by Annie Barrows, 2006–2013) * ''Mr. and Mrs. Bunny—Detectives Extraordinaire!'' (by

Polly Horvath Polly Horvath (born 30 January 1957) is an American-Canadian author of novels for children and young adults. She won the 2003 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for '' The Canning Season'', published by Farrar, Straus and Giro ...

, 2012) * ''Take Two! A Celebration of Twins'' (by

J. Patrick Lewis J. Patrick Lewis (born May 5, 1942) is an American poet and prose writer noted for his children's poems and other light verse. He worked as professor of economics from 1974-1998, after which he devoted himself full-time to writing. Awards Lewis ...

and

, 2012) * ''The Crows of Pearblossom'' (by

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxley ...

, 2011) * ''Spinster Goose'' (by Lisa Wheeler, 2011) * ''Edwin Speaks Up'' (by April Stevens, 2011) * ''Pecan Pie Baby'' (by

, 2010) – winner of Horn Book Honor * ''Big Red Lollipop'' (by

Rukhsana Khan Rukhsana Khan ( ur, ; born 1962) is a Canadian children's writer and storyteller, whose stories have enabled children of all cultures to connect with cultures of Eastern origins. Biography Khan was born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1962. She imm ...

, 2010) * ''Wombat Walkabout'' (by Carol Diggory Shields, 2009) * ''Jumpy Jack and Googily'' (by

, 2008) * ''What's So Bad About Being an Only Child?'' (by Cari Best, 2007) * ''Wild Boars Cook'' (by

, 2008) * ''Meet Wild Boars!'' (by

, 2005) – winner of Founder's Award from the Society of Illustrators * ''Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China'' (by Deborah Noyes, 2007) * ''Summer is Summer'' (by Phillis and David Gershator, 2006) * ''Ruby's Wish'' (by Shirin Yim Bridges, 2002) – winner of Ezra Jack Keats Award for Best New Illustrator

Author and illustrator

* ''Things to Look Forward To'' (2022) * ''If You Come to Earth'' (2020), named Best Children's Book of the Year for 2020 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 ...

*''

'' (2018) Winner of the 2019 Caldecott Medal * ''The Baby Tree'' (2014) * ''Are You Awake?'' (2011) * ''Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found'' (2011) * ''20 Party Tricks to Amuse and Amaze Your Friends'' (1997)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackall, Sophie Artists from Brooklyn Australian children's book illustrators Members of the Order of Australia Caldecott Medal winners Living people Year of birth missing (living people)