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Sophie Blackall

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Blackall in 2013

Sophie Jocasta Blackall AM is an Australian artist, author, and illustrator of children's books based in Brooklyn, New York.[1]

Early life and education

Blackall was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1970.[2] In 1992, Blackall earned a Bachelor of Design from University of Technology Sydney.[3]

Career

Blackall started her career with various jobs such as painting robotic characters for theme parks, and authoring a household hints column.[4] She also exhibited her paintings at galleries in Sydney and Melbourne.[4] While in Australia, she married and had two children.[5]

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.[2] She did various editorial work, and did several animated commercials for the UK market.[2]

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 in 2003.[5] 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 for anonymous messages posted online by lovelorn strangers.[4] 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 program which was displayed in New York City subway cars the following year.[4]

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.[6][7][8]

She won the 2016 Caldecott Medal for Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear[9] and the 2019 Caldecott Medal for Hello Lighthouse.[10]

As of 2016, she has illustrated more than 30 books for children,[2][4][11] including the Ivy and Bean 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.[12]

Blackall has also collaborated with authors such as Jacqueline Woodson, John Bemelmans Marciano, Jane Yolen, and Meg Rosoff. Her work also includes animated television commercials and editorial illustrations for newspapers and magazines.[4]

She hides an image of a whale in every book, in honor of the novel Moby Dick, by Herman Melville.[13][12] Blackall dislikes it when an author refers to an illustrated book as "my book", feeling it diminishes the essential role of the illustrations.[14]

She has seriously injured her hand in a fall while working at a children's camp.[2] Rehabilitative physical therapy has only been partially successful; she may have to give up precision drawing, and change her creative methods.[2] 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.[2]

Blackall was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours.[15]

Awards and prizes

List of works

Illustrator

  • The Witches of Benevento series (by John Bemelmans Marciano)
    • 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, 2014)
  • The Mighty Lalouche (by Matthew Olshan, 2013)
  • The 9 Lives of Alexander Baddenfield (by John Bemelmans Marciano, 2013)
  • Ivy and Bean series (by Annie Barrows, 2006–2013)
  • Mr. and Mrs. Bunny—Detectives Extraordinaire! (by Polly Horvath, 2012)
  • Take Two! A Celebration of Twins (by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen, 2012)
  • The Crows of Pearblossom (by Aldous Huxley, 2011)
  • Spinster Goose (by Lisa Wheeler, 2011)
  • Edwin Speaks Up (by April Stevens, 2011)
  • Pecan Pie Baby (by Jacqueline Woodson, 2010) – winner of Horn Book Honor
  • Big Red Lollipop (by Rukhsana Khan, 2010)
  • Wombat Walkabout (by Carol Diggory Shields, 2009)
  • Jumpy Jack and Googily (by Meg Rosoff, 2008)
  • What's So Bad About Being an Only Child? (by Cari Best, 2007)
  • Wild Boars Cook (by Meg Rosoff, 2008)
  • Meet Wild Boars! (by Meg Rosoff, 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[16]
  • Hello Lighthouse (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

  1. ^ "This Valentine's Day, A Sweet Look At Almost Love". NPR. 12 February 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Sophie Blackall: Drawing the World 'Round" (Transcript of video interview). Articulate. The Articulate Foundation. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Sophie Blackall". 200 Women. Blackwell and Ruth Ltd. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Sophie Blackall's Bio". Measles & Rubella Initiative. American Red Cross. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Sophie Blackall". Our White House | Looking In, Looking Out. The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  6. ^ "The Kids' Book 'A Fine Dessert' Has Award Buzz — And Charges Of Whitewashing Slavery". NPR.org. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  7. ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (6 November 2015). "'A Fine Dessert': Judging a Book by the Smile of a Slave". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  8. ^ "A Fine Dessert". Texas Bluebonnet Award 2016-2017. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  9. ^ Gilmore, Natasha (12 January 2016). "Celebrating with 'Champagne and Donuts': Sophie Blackall on Her 2016 Caldecott". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  10. ^ "2019 Youth Media Award Winners". American Libraries Magazine. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  11. ^ Murphy, Kate (23 July 2016). "Opinion | Sophie Blackall". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Sophie Blackall, illustrator at large". Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  13. ^ Martinez-Neal, Juana (3 December 2013). "A Mini-Interview with Sophie Blackall". Juana Martinez-Neal. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  14. ^ Reinhardt, Jennifer Black (12 June 2018). "Sophie Blackall is in the (Light)house! An INTERVIEW!!!!! Yay!!!!". picturebookbuilders.com. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  15. ^ "Ms Sophie Jocasta Blackall". It's an Honour. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  16. ^ "We Love These New York Times' Best Children's Books of 2020". Brightly. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Library resources
By Sophie Blackall
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