Who is Sami?

Sami is a 29 year old international award winning author and illustrator who is based in Newcastle, Australia. She loves all things weird and wonderful and enjoys painting realistic flora and fauna with watercolours. Her favourite topics tend to be the ones most people like to avoid... such as 'ugly' animals, parasites, poo stories and more.

After studying at The University of Newcastle, Sami graduated in 2018 with a bachelor of Natural History Illustration (Honours). In her final year, she was approached by publishers and gained her first book deal, which kick started her career in publishing. Since 2019, she has published six books and has been shortlisted for/won over 20 awards (check them out below).

Four of her books are non-fiction and are part of The Illustrated Encyclopaedia series: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature and The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals.

Her other two are hybrid picture books and focus on animal evolution stories for younger children. They are, How We Came To Be - Surprising Sea Creatures and How We Came To Be - Creatures of Camouflage and Mimicry, all published by Lothian/Hachette Australia.

She is about to release her next book, Fast and Slow Animals, and can’t wait to see what her future holds!

Is the Australian tiger beetle faster or slower than a basset hound? Find out all about some of the world's fastest and slowest animals in the latest beautifully illustrated encyclopaedia from award-winning author and illustrator Sami Bayly.

Featuring facts and astonishing illustrations about sixty amazing fast and slow animals, including the super speedy black marlin, the cheetah and the gentoo penguin, and the oh-so-slow dwarf seahorse, the gila monster and the immortal jellyfish.
Children and adults alike will wonder at these speedy and not-so-speedy animals.

Order your own signed/personalised copy here.

Social Media

If you want to be kept up to date with her process, book signing, workshops (and even see some sneak peaks of her upcoming books), then follow her on social media.

Awards

Over the years Sami has won and been nominated for numerous awards, these include:

1. Winner of the Children's Indie Book of the Year Award - Indie Book Awards

2. Winner of the Environmental Award for Children’s Literature Non-fiction - The Wilderness Society

3. Winner of the Sun Project Shadow Judging - Shadowers’ Choice for the Eve Pownall Award - CBCA

4. Winner of the Best Designed Children’s Non-Fiction Illustrated book - Australian Book Design Awards

5. 2020 GOLD Winner for the Juvenile Non-Fiction Award - Foreword Reviews

6. Honour for the Eve Pownall Award - CBCA

7. Shortlisted for the Book of the Year for Younger Children - ABIA’s

8. Shortlisted for the Booksellers' Choice 2020 Book of the Year Awards - ABA’s

9. Shortlisted for the Children’s Book of The Year - Queensland Literacy Awards

10. Shortlisted for the Eve Pownall Award - CBCA

11. Longlisted for the Eve Pownall Award - CBCA

12. Highly Commended for the NSW Community Educator of the Year - AAEE

13. Longlisted for the World Illustration Awards (Science & Technology category) - Association of Illustrators

14. Included in the top 50 Favourite Australian Books - Booktopia

15. Winner of the Emerging Artist Competition - The Olive Tree Market

16. Winner of the Start Your Studio Scholarship Award - Jasco Art

17. Winner of the William Fletcher Foundation Fund - University of Newcastle

18. Co-winner of the Scientific Illustration Scholarship - Australian Museum
    
    Her books have also been published overseas in numerous countries including the UK, USA, South Korea, Japan, Sweden, Israel and Russia. With future publications to be released in China and more.

Sami had the pleasure of doing the poster art for the 2024 NSW Premier's Reading Challenge.
The Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is open to all NSW students in Kindergarten to Year 10, in government, independent, Catholic and home schools.

Sami has been featured in the new edition of Rebel Girls Animal Allies - 25 Tales of Women Working with Wildlife.

Okay… so prepare yourself for this VERY exciting news.
Rebel Girls has included Sami in their next book called Animal Allies 🦧😍
“Meet 25 brave, compassionate scientists, veterinarians, activists, and others who fight for animal rights and conservation in Rebel Girls Animal Allies.
Animal Allies will take readers all around the world-to the top of trees and the bottom of the ocean, deep into the jungle, and high into the mountains. They’ll visit labs and veterinary offices, and learn about many different ways an animal lover might turn their interest into a path for the future.”

In this book, Sami is along side some of the MOST inspiring women, including Kristen Bell, Jane Goodall, Birute Galdikas, Bindi Irwin and more! So you might need to pinch her, because wow 😆 how is that even possible.

A huge thank you to the team at Rebel Girls for noticing Sami’s animal advocation efforts and for inviting her to be a part of such a special project. She was even asked to illustrate her own page, which is why you’ll spot some of her favourite ‘ugly’ friends hanging around for the photo op. 😊

This book is available now. Just click here to order your own copy (because I mean… who wouldn’t) 😁❤️🌱

Check out the video below of some of Sami’s friends sharing their own favourite peculiar pair!

Outdoor photos by @Olivetreemarket
Studio photos by @shanrosephotography at @hunterhunterau