Sami Bayly

Ms JENNY AITCHISON (Maitland—Minister for Regional Transport and Roads)—Sami Bayly is an author and illustrator of all things weird and wonderful and for such a young woman has a long list of achievements. Sami graduated from the University of Newcastle in 2018 with a Bachelor of Natural History Illustration (Honours), winning the Dr Tan Chin Nam and Colleen Innovation Award for her honours thesis. This inspired her first award winning book, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ugly Animals, with its delightful tag line 'It's time for ugly animals to shine!' Sami has a passion for teaching children about evolution and celebrates the beauty of our world's biodiversity. Her subsequent books covered dangerous animals, peculiar pairs, and surprising sea creatures. Sami's latest book, her fifth in five years, Creatures of Camouflage and Mimicry examines why creatures benefit from camouflage and mimicry, a widespread phenomenon used in the animal kingdom. Despite common belief, the traits are not always a defence tactic, but you can read more about that in her book! You will also see Sami's artist talents on display as the poster art for this year's NSW Premier's Reading Challenge which encourages a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students across the state. Congratulations Sami!