The Reading Culture

Sophie Blackall

Written by Jordan Lloyd Bookey | Dec 10, 2025 8:00:00 AM
Home. It’s something we spend our whole lives building and rebuilding. Sometimes it’s made of walls and windows. Others, it’s made of words.

Sophie Blackall builds hers through imagination and community. The two-time Caldecott Medal-winning author and illustrator, known for works such as Hello Lighthouse, If You Come to Earth, and Finding Winnie, has spent her life transforming that search into stories.

 

“When we are making books, we are making little homes for our readers that they can return to hopefully again and again and again, just as we return to books and find a sense of home, we return to the person we once were, when we were reading that book.” — Sophie Blackall

 

In this episode, Sophie shares her nomadic childhood, her fixation on the idea of home, and why she never feels settled. She also discusses the books she reaches for to feel safe. We also talk about Milkwood—the magical farm retreat she created for the children’s book community to cook, commune, and collaborate.

Settle in for a wide-ranging conversation that explores the meaning we construct within and around our lives.

 

 

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For her reading challenge, Home, Sophie has curated a collection of books that explore how we build and replace the places that hold us. Check out all of the challenge titles below!

 

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This week's Beanstack Featured Librarian is Kimberly Thompson, the library media specialist at East Side Middle School in Bullock County, Kentucky. She tells us all about the Kentucky Bluegrass Awards and how they’re getting everyone in her school reading, including the adults!

 

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Listen to the full episode, "No Wasted Sunshine: Sophie Blackall on the Meaning of Home" on Apple, Spotify, Castbox, or wherever you get your podcasts. Like what you hear? Please leave a 5-star review, subscribe, and share with someone who will enjoy it!


Whatever you do, keep reading!

 

Contents
  • Chapter 1: Where Is Home?
  • Chapter 2: Wasted Sunshine
  • Chapter 3: A Perfect Picture Book
  • Chapter 4: Not Just a Farmhouse
  • Chapter 5: Under Milk Wood
  • Chapter 6: Paper Houses
  • Chapter 7: So Now What?
  • Chapter 8: Reading Challenge
  • Chapter 9: Beanstack Featured Librarian

Author Reading Challenge

Home: A Sophie Blackall Challenge

  • Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran and illustrated by Barbara Cooney
  • The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
  • Arrival by Shaun Tan 
  • Here by Richard McGuire
  • To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
  • Kindred by Octavia Butler
  • The Tale of Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter

 

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