Annie Barrows

If you've ever wondered what happens when a five-time New York Times Best Illustrated Picture Book winner hands her words over to someone else's pencil for the first time, this episode is for you.

My guest is the incomparable Sophie Blackall, an award-winning illustrator of more than 50 books for children, including the best-selling Ivy and Bean series written by Annie Barrows, the 2016 Caldecott Medal winner Finding Winnie written by Lindsay Matic, and the 2019 Caldecott Medal winner Hello Lighthouse, which she also wrote.

She's worked with UNICEF and Save the Children UK on global health and literacy initiatives.

And originally from Australia, she now spits her time between Brooklyn and the Catskill Mountains, where she and her husband run Milkwood Farm, a retreat for the children's book community.

In this conversation, Sophie and I get into the third Stella and Marigold book from Annie Barrows, what it's like to write words for someone else's pictures with StoryRug, and the hurdle every illustrator has to climb over between what's in their head and what ends up on the page.

In true Sophie fashion, we also talk soot-covered chimneys, Chinese inkstones, and why she thinks collaboration might be the whole point of making books in the first place.

Grab your coffee or a banana to pat and settle in.

This one's a treat.