Sophie Blackall author page

Sophie Blackall biography

Sophie Blackall is an author and illustrator of children’s books. She was born and raised in Australia and completed a bachelor of design degree in Sydney before moving to New York City in 2000. Her editorial illustration work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Time, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Town & Country, Vogue, Architectural Digest and the Boston Globe.

Blackall has illustrated more than forty-five books for young readers. She also wrote and illustrated Hello Lighthouse and If You Come to Earth, and her first book for adults was Missed Connections: Love, Lost and Found.

Blackall won the 2016 Randolph Caldecott Medal for illustrating Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear. She won the 2019 Caldecott Medal for Hello Lighthouse, a picture book about a lighthouse keeper and his family. In 2012, the MTA Arts for Transit programme commissioned her to create artwork for subway cars in New York City.

Blackall illustrated The Beatryce Prophecy, written by Kate DiCamillo, for readers aged 8 to 12; the book was published on 28 September 2021. She illustrated Are You Awake?, which was later made available as a board book. Her picture book Hello Lighthouse was published in paperback in the UK on 2 May 2019.