Sami’s skill draws international acclaim

With a curiosity for creatures and an extraordinary talent for drawing, bestselling author and illustrator Sami Bayly is releasing her third and final illustrated encyclopaedia following the worldwide success of her previous books, all at the age of 25.

Published by Hachette Australia, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature is Sami’s third book. It follows on from The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals and the multi-award-winning book that started it all, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals.

Ugly Animals has been so successful that it’s won multiple awards, including the Children’s Indie Book of the Year Award and the Australian Book Design Award for Younger Readers. Most recently, the book’s US version took out gold in the Juvenile Nonfiction section at the 2020 Foreword INDIES.

“It is so special and really hard to put words to how this feels. To have an audience from a completely different country recognise and love this book is just so exciting. I feel so incredibly honoured and lucky,” Sami said.

“I was used to my family and my small social media following seeing and supporting my work. So I didn’t see how it was possible for people beyond that to ever purchase my books.

“I now get messages from strangers overseas who are complimenting my book, and my first reaction is, ‘Hang on, how did you get my book? Did my parents send it to you?'” Sami laughed. 

Sami’s books have been published in many different countries, including the UK, the US and Russia. Ugly Animals is now being translated for publishing in China, and translations are planned in Hebrew.

“This whole experience has certainly been a pinch-me moment. When I was first asked about publishing a UK version, I was so excited and thought it was going to be the absolute peak,” Sami said.

“When the US version came along, I thought, ‘Wow, this isn’t going to be a one-off tale that I’ll tell the grandkids in 50 years; this is the makings of something huge and life-changing.

“So, these past couple of years have gone so fast, and I’ve experienced many firsts, things that I’ve struggled to process, all very good things, though!”

Sami said her latest book was a look into nature’s symbiotic pairs, where two species come together and benefit one another to survive.

“One of my favourite examples is the Moreton Bay Fig and the Fig Wasp. Most people in Newcastle would have come across one without knowing,” Sami said.

“The Moreton Bay Fig has these little berries on them. If you’re lucky enough, you can see these tiny little wasps which live inside the figs and pollinate the flowers around the tree. They cannot survive without one another and have this amazing relationship.”

Sami also wanted to include more parasitic relationships, like the Pinhead Pearlfish, which lives inside the bottom of the Sea Cucumber.

“Every time the Sea Cucumber breathes in and out, its bottom opens, and this little Pearlfish goes in and lives there, sometimes even bringing a buddy!” Sami laughed.

“In some species of this fish, they will actually nibble on the insides of the bottom as an extra snack while they are hiding out, so this poor Sea Cucumber is like ‘Oh my gosh, get out of me, please!’.

“There were just so many different types of animal and creature relationships that I wanted to explore and were all so perfect for my series.”

Taking 10 months to write and illustrate, Peculiar Pairs includes around 120 animals. Some pages feature three- and four-way symbiotic relationships.

Peculiar Pairs is also the first book that Sami was able to work on full-time. Her first two books were created through a university degree and a retail job.

“Ugly Animals took me 12 months as I was doing my honours degree, and I had other distractions, like my retail job. Dangerous Animals was only six months because I ended up quitting my job and pretty much worked every day from 9am till midnight.

 “My family are so supportive of my career, but, especially through uni, I would meet people who would question my degree and my future. I constantly thought I would always have to keep a retail job to fund my passion.

“But fortunately, here I am. I have been able to turn this little dream into a full-time paying career, and hopefully, I can keep this going because I’m only just getting started!”

Sami completed a Bachelor of Natural History Illustration at the University of Newcastle and went on to do honours, where she honed her scientific illustration skills.

She said the idea for her first book, Ugly Animals, came in 2018 when she entered into a Scientific Illustration Scholarship through the Australian Museum.

“I entered an illustration of an Australian White Ibis or the ‘Bin Chicken’,” Sami laughed.

“It was around the time when there were lots of memes about how stupid and ugly these birds were. Of course, everyone was laughing at these animals, but I wanted to explore the uniqueness of these birds and their true beauty.

“So, I did a watercolour portrait and wrote an artist statement about how their habitat was being destroyed and their homes were being turned into car parks and buildings.”

Sami said the birds were being forced into the city to scavenge for food, having no other choice but to utilise their long beaks and reach into bins for scraps.

“It’s amazing; these birds have been forced to adapt to their new reality and environment, which has helped them from going extinct.”

Sami ended up taking out the scholarship and was co-winner with a fellow student in her degree.

“The Sydney Morning Herald did a story of my win in the paper, and it just so happened that the head of publishing at Hachette Australia was reading the paper and saw my work,” she said.

“So, they contacted me through my uni lecturer and offered the potential to create a children’s book featuring ugly animals.” 

Along with illustrating the animals, she was also asked to write the book, which was something a bit different after coming from a degree that was heavily focused on the practical.

“This was the most challenging part for me. I knew I always wanted to do something with my illustrating, but actually writing the book and becoming an author was really unexpected,” Sami said.

“I warned them that I was no scientist, but the publishers wanted the writing to be simple and easy to understand for people of all ages. Fortunately, I had some researching skills, and I was able to write up some general facts and information about these animals, which sat beside my illustrations.”

Sami wanted to give nature’s curious creatures a chance and prove that even the ugliest animals could be beautiful. She not only shares this knowledge through her books but also participates in school workshops, events and seminars.

“Some workshops consist of illustration activities, where we do step-by-step line drawings. We also do writing activities, where the kids come up with words to describe the animals,” she said.

“I also like to ask them questions about why they think the animals look the way they do.

“Seeing the kids think about it critically and wonder why these animals have certain features is very rewarding; they come up with very creative ideas and concepts.”

Her books have also been converted into school teaching resources and guides to help educate kids on the importance of the world’s unique and diverse ecosystem.

A notable achievement for Sami was receiving a letter from Sir David Attenborough after she sent him a copy of her Ugly Animals book.

“That was definitely a huge highlight in my career,” Sami said.

“Having a handwritten letter from David Attenborough saying that he appreciated the book was just mind-blowing!

“For him to put the effort and time into a reply was so special. I’m going to annoy him once more and send him my latest book. I hope I get another letter, but I could very well be pushing my luck.”

Sami said that Peculiar Pairs would be the final book in the encyclopaedia series.

“I’m happy to leave it as those three. I’m now working on creating a nonfiction picture book. I’m still trying to figure out what it’s going to be about, but it will be less like the encyclopaedias.

“I also really enjoyed the teaching process of the school workshops. It’s so cool teaching other people my process and showing the hints and tricks I’ve learnt over the years. So I keep thinking maybe I would like to get into teaching.

“Unfortunately, the degree I completed in Newcastle has been discontinued, which was the only one in the southern hemisphere. Maybe one day I can teach overseas somewhere.”

Sami said she didn’t want to overthink the future too much and preferred to focus on the beginnings of her blossoming career.

“It will never be just about the money and selling books,” she said.

“I think as long as whatever I’m producing is something that I’ve put all my passion and emotion into, and it’s authentically me, then I will be happy.”

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature will hit the shelves in September 2021 and is now available for pre-order at Hachette Australia’s website.

If you want to keep up to date with Sami’s process, book signings, workshops and even see sneak peeks of her upcoming books, follow @samibayly or visit samibayly.com.

Hayley McMahon