Kelly Murphy is an American author,

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and educator. She is based in Providence, Rhode Island.

Early life

Murphy was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in southeastern Massachusetts. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, Rhode Island. Her student work receiving distinction from the Society of Illustrators of New York. After graduating with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

degree in illustration in 1999, Murphy started a freelance career as an editorial and children's books illustrator.

Career

She wrote and illustrated her first picture book, ''The Boll Weevil Ball'', in 2002 and has since illustrated more than 40 books for children, including stories written by authors Dave Eggers,

J. Patrick Lewis J. Patrick Lewis (born May 5, 1942) is an American poet and prose writer noted for his children's poems and other light verse. He worked as professor of economics from 1974-1998, after which he devoted himself full-time to writing. Awards Lewis ...

, Linda Sue Park, Richard Peck, Beatrix Potter and Jane Yolen. Murphy has also created artwork for theater, film and animation, including character designs for the

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

animated show '' Esme & Roy'' on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, and the 2013 documentary '' Muscle Shoals''. She has taught at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Montserrat College of Art, and is a faculty member of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Awards

In 2009 Murphy earned an E.B. White Read Aloud Award for illustrating the

New York Times Best Seller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

Masterpiece A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'', written by

Elise Broach Elise Broach (born September 20, 1963) is an American writer. Her publications include the acclaimed novels ''Shakespeare's Secret'', ''Desert Crossing'', and '' Masterpiece''. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in history from Yale Un ...

. She subsequently illustrated books in a companion series for younger readers, ''The Masterpiece Adventures'', by the same author. In 2019 ''All the Greys on Greene Street'', written by Laura Tucker and illustrated by Murphy, was distinguished as a best book of the year by '' The New York Times'', ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'', BookPage and '' Publishers Weekly''.

Exhibitions

Murphy was one of 5 artists whose work was exhibited in the 18th Annual Children's Book Illustrators' Show & Signing at the Chemers Gallery in Tustin, CA in 2009. Murphy's original art was exhibited in the 2010 Children's Book Illustrators Exhibition at the Brush Art Gallery & Studios, with fellow RISD alumni illustrators Christopher Bing, David Macaulay and David Wiesner. Murphy's work has been exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration in New York City, NY. In 2012, Murphy's work received a Gold Award in the Illustration West 50 competition and was exhibited at the Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, California. Murphy was also chosen from RISD's illustrious alumni as one of the artists featured in RISD ICONS: A Legacy of Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design exhibit at the Woods Gerry Gallery. In 2014, Murphy was a keynote speaker at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators 2014 Writers & Illustrators Working Conference in Austin, Texas. Murphy is one of the illustrators and authors presenting at the Lincoln School's 2018 Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors.

Bibliography

Chapter books

* ''

'' (2008, Illustrator, written by

) * ''Flight of the Phoenix (

Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist is an ongoing series of chapter books for children written by R. L. LaFevers and illustrated by Kelly Murphy. The books chronicle the adventures of young Nathaniel "Nate" Fludd, a beastologist in training who travels ...

, Book 1)'' (2009, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers) * ''The Basilisk's Lair (

, Book 2)'' (2010, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers) * ''The Wyverns' Treasure (

, Book 3)'' (2010, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers) * ''Haunted Houses (Are You Scared Yet?)'' (2010, Co-illustrated with

Antoine Revoy Antoine Revoy is a French author and illustrator. He is the creator of the horror story graphic novels ''ANIMUS'' (originally titled ''The Playground'') and ''Ghost Notes'', published by First Second Books. Revoy is married to illustrator Kelly M ...

, written by

Robert D. San Souci Robert Daniel San Souci (October 10, 1946 – December 19, 2014) was a multiple award-winning children's book author known most for his retellings of folktales for children. A native Californian, Robert D. San Souci was born in San Francisco and ...

) * ''The Unicorn's Tale (

, Book 4)'' (2011, Illustrator, written by R. L. LaFevers) * '' Secrets at Sea'' (2011, Illustrator, written by Richard Peck) * ''Alex and the Amazing Time Machine'' (2012, Illustrator, written by Rich Cohen) * ''The Scorpions of Zahir'' (2012, Illustrator, written by Christine Brodien-Jones) * ''Behind the Bookcase'' (2012, Illustrator, written by Mark Steensland) * '' The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail'' (2013, Illustrator, written by Richard Peck) * ''Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea'' (2013, Illustrator, written by Lisa and Valerie Martin) * ''The Miniature World of Marvin and James'' (2014, Illustrator, written by

) * ''The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 1: The Case of the Missing Moonstone'' (2015, Illustrator, written by

Jordan Stratford Jordan Stratford is a Canadian author of children's fiction. Books Children's books Jordan is the author of the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency Series (Knopf / Random House), a pro-math and science adventure series for children 8-12. The first bo ...

) * ''James to the Rescue'' (2015, Illustrator, written by

) * ''The Door by the Staircase'' (2016, Illustrator, written by

Katherine Marsh Katherine Marsh (born November 11, 1974) is a writer of children's literature, most notably '' The Night Tourist'' and ''Nowhere Boy''. She is also an editor of nonfiction articles and books. Life She was a high school teacher before moving to ...

) * ''The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 2: The Case of the Girl in Grey'' (2016, Illustrator, written by

) * ''Anton and Cecil: Cats Aloft'' (2016, Illustrator, written by Lisa and Valerie Martin) * ''The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 3: The Case of the Counterfeit Criminals'' (2017, Illustrator, written by

) * ''Trouble at School for Marvin & James'' (2017, Illustrator, written by

) * ''A Properly Unhaunted Place'' (2017, Illustrator, written by

William Alexander William or Bill Alexander may refer to: Literature *William Alexander (poet) (1808–1875), American poet and author * William Alexander (journalist and author) (1826–1894), Scottish journalist and author *William Alexander (author) (born 1976), ...

) * ''The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 4: The Case of the Perilous Palace'' (2018, Illustrator, written by

) * ''A Festival of Ghosts'' (2018, Illustrator, written by

) * ''All The Greys on Greene Street'' (2019, Illustrator, written by Laura Tucker) *''A Trip to the Country for Marvin & James'' (2020, Illustrator, written by

) *''Happily for Now'' (2021, Illustrator, written by Kelly Jones) *''Ginny Off the Map'' (2023, Illustrator, written by Caroline Hickey)

Picture books

* ''The Boll Weevil Ball'' (2002) * ''A Place To Grow'' (2002, Illustrator, written by Stephanie Bloom) * ''Loony Little'' (2003, Illustrator, written by Dianna Hutts Aston) * ''Dancing Matilda'' (2004, Illustrator, written by Sarah Hager) * ''Good Babies'' (2005, Illustrator, written by Tim Myers) * ''Fiona's Luck'' (2007, Illustrator, written by Teresa Bateman) * ''Gallop-O-Gallop'' (2007, Illustrator, written by Sandra Alonso) * ''Hush, Little Dragon'' (2008, Illustrator, written by Boni Ashburn) * ''The Peach Boy'' (2009, Illustrator, written by Alex Frith) * ''Brand-New Baby Blues'' (2009, Illustrator, written by Kathi Appelt) * ''Over At The Castle'' (2009, Illustrator, written by Boni Ashburn) * ''Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters'' (2011, Illustrator, written by Jane Yolen) * ''Face Bug'' (2013, Illustrator, written by

, photographs by Fred Siskind) * ''Romping Monsters, Stomping Monsters'' (2013, Illustrator, written by Jane Yolen) * ''The Slowest Book Ever'' (2016, Illustrator, written by April Pulley Sayre) * ''Together We Grow'' (2020, Illustrator, written by Susan Vaught) * ''Faraway Things'' (2021, Illustrator, written by Dave Eggers) * ''Dakota Crumb: Tiny Treasure Hunter'' (2021, Illustrator, written by Jamie Michalak)

References

External links

Kelly Murphy's official website

Kelly Murphy on the Macmillan's Authors page

Kelly Murphy on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Illustrator page

Kelly Murphy , Official Publisher Page , Simon & Schuster
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Kelly Living people People from Boston Rhode Island School of Design alumni Rhode Island School of Design faculty American illustrators American women illustrators American children's writers American children's book illustrators Writers who illustrated their own writing 1977 births Montserrat College of Art faculty Massachusetts College of Art and Design faculty American women academics 21st-century American women