Sophie Beer

Bio
Workshops and Talks

Sophie Beer is an award-winning author/illustrator living in Brisbane, Australia. She rejoices in creating bright, funny books for young people which centre equality, inclusion and kindness. Her books have been printed all over the world and have sold close to one million copies. She has published with Penguin Random House New York, Simon & Schuster, Hardie Grant, Scholastic, and many more. As an illustrator, she has worked with the likes of Disney, Google, The Guardian, LEGO Australia, and even had her own homewares line in Myer. As a writer, her work has appeared in Frankie Magazine and The Big Issue. In 2022 she received a Varuna Writers Space Fellowship to complete her first middle grade novel, Thunderhead, which was published by Allen & Unwin in 2024 and was a CBCA Notable. It is currently being adapted for film by LateNite Films. When she's not illustrating and writing, she thinks a lot about plants, animals, music, books, equality, and Aldi choc-chip biscuits.

Sophie's workshops are energetic and engaging, getting kids excited about diversity, empathy, and how books can help facilitate inclusion. As a hard of hearing person, Sophie speaks about disability in youth literature, why representation matters, and how students can turn their own stories into a 'machine of empathy' (to quote Roger Ebert).

As a writer and illustrator, Sophie's presentations can be moulded to fit school curriculum: they can either drill down into the nitty gritty of writing, show the illustration process, or focus on both of these areas in tandem. She is also adept at presenting to adults in an illustrative or writing context.

With ten years' industry experience, Sophie has presented:

- To all school years, with a focus on primary school

- To the general public as a part of fetes and demonstrations

- To teacher-librarians, book clubs, booksellers and creators

- Conventions, private company events

- Writers festivals

- Live TV, radio, and public book readings

BOOKS: (written and illustrated only):

Middle Grade:

Thunderhead (2024, A&U):

Synopsis:

Meet Thunderhead: awkward, music-obsessed and a magnet for bad luck. Their favourite things in life are listening to records and hanging out with their best (and only) friend Moonflower. But Thunderhead has a big secret. And when Moonflower moves schools, they're faced with the reality of surviving the wilderness of high school alone. Make new friends? NOTHANKYOUVERYMUCH. As two big life events approach, Thunderhead posts playlists and heartfelt diary entries as an outlet to try to make sense of their changing world, to try to calm the storm brewing in their brain and to try to find the courage to unfurl their heart.

Drawing on Sophie Beer's own experience of hearing loss, this indelible illustrated middle grade novel about music, disability, friendship and fandom is immediately engaging, utterly authentic and entirely unputdownable.

'I gobbled up this amazing book in two sittings. Thunderhead is my new hero: so smart, funny and true. What a good soul. This beautiful and important story deals with so much and is so heartfelt. An absolute cracker of a story.' Karen Foxlee, award-winning author of Dragon Skin and Lenny's Book of Everything

PICTURE BOOKS: author/illustrator only

Baby, You’re a Rainbow (2025, Hardie Grant (AUS) Penguin Random House (US))

My Mama Bear and Me (2024, Hardie Grant (AUS) Penguin Random House (US))

You're Fabulous As You Are (2023, Hardie Grant)

How to Say Hello (2022, Hardie Grant)

Welcome, Little One (2021, Hardie Grant)

Change Starts with Us (2020, Hardie Grant (AUS) Penguin Random House (US))

Kindness Makes Us Strong (2019, Hardie Grant (AUS) Penguin Random House (US))

Love Makes a Family (2017, Hardie Grant (AUS) Penguin Random House (US))

Arthur and the Tiger (2019, Penguin Random House)

TALKS AND WORKSHOPS

Sophie can also tailor any of her talks for an older audience.

SCHOOL TALKS:

Picture Book Writing and Illustrating (kindergarten - year 6)

Delve into the word of writing and illustrating picture books with award-winning author and illustrator Sophie Beer! Sophie will take kids through the fascinating process of how silly scribbles in a notebook can become a BOOK!

Disability and Writing (year 5 - 12)

Centring on her middle grade novel Thunderhead and her own personal story of hearing loss, Sophie Beer talks through the importance of inclusion and diversity in children’s/YA literature with lots of giggles and student interaction. Students will experience what hearing loss is like, talk about their favourite bands and books, and discuss the importance of empathy. This talk can also focus more generally on diversity in children’s literature without the inclusion of Thunderhead if the cohort are too young, or can focus on Sophie’s book ‘Kindness Makes Us Strong’ (board book, ages 0 - 5)

Writing and Illustrating Your Story (year 8 - 12)

Do your students have a personal story to tell? What is the best method of telling it? Sophie Beer takes students through her own journey of turning her experience of hearing loss into her debut middle grade novel Thunderhead. This talk focuses more on narrative devices, writing tips, and story creation than the above talk.

ILLUSTRATION SPECIFIC:

Illustration demonstration (requires screen projector with AirPlay capabilities)

Sophie works digitally so is able to be hired for an illustration demonstration with little fuss or set up!

TALKS FOR WRITERS AND ARTISTS:

A Crash Course In Picture Book Making

Join bestselling author/illustrator Sophie Beer on a whirlwind journey through the nitty gritty of making a picture book!

Illustrating Picture Books (writer specific)

You send off your manuscript to an illustrator, and then what happens?! Delve into the world of picture book illustration with Sophie Beer, as she takes you behind the scenes of what happens when it’s the illustrator’s turn to take over the reins of your manuscript!

Illustrating Picture Books (illustrator specific)

Do you want to illustrate a picture book but don’t know where to start? Having illustrated over 40 books, Sophie Beer goes through all of the steps required with taking a manuscript and turning it into something remarkable: a book!

WORKSHOPS:

Digital Illustration Workshop (all ages, requires ipads for each attendee)

Join internationally published illustrator Sophie Beer as she helps you learn the basics of the fabulous world of digital illustration! Ideal for beginners.

Writing Engaging Middle Grade Fiction

From pitch to structure, story hook to narrative voice, award-winning author and illustrator Sophie Beer will take you through the process of pulling together a novel for the middle grade market and making your resulting book as engaging as possible.