Sophie Blackall is a Brooklyn-based Australian artist. She has illustrated over fifty books for children, including the New York Times best-selling Ivy and Bean series, and has twice received the Randolph Caldecott Medal, in 2016 for Finding Winnie and in 2019 for Hello Lighthouse. She has also written and illustrated books for grown ups.
Blackall has collaborated with many notable authors, including Annie Barrows, Kate DiCamillo, Rukhsana Khan, Meg Rosoff and Judith Viorst.
Her editorial illustrations have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York City MTA and the MoMA Design Store. She has worked internationally with UNICEF and Save the Children as an artist and advocate for global health and literacy initiatives, and in 2020 was named an Australian Global Icon.
She is the founder of Milkwood Farm, a creative retreat for the children’s book community in upstate New York.
Cover image: Sophie Blackall, illustration for A Fine Dessert, Chinese ink and watercolor on arches paper, 30 x 16.5 in. © 2015 by Sophie Blackall. This exhibition was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.