Sami Bayly is a natural history illustrator based in Newcastle, NSW, who loves all things weird and wonderful. She finds the beauty and importance of all animals regardless of their appearance, and hopes to share her appreciation with others.

Sami's first book, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals, won the Children's Indie Book of the Year Award and the Australian Book Design Award for Younger Readers. It was a CBCA Honour Book and was shortlisted for an ABIA Book of the Year for Younger Children and longlisted for the ABA Booksellers' Choice 2020 Book of the Year Awards. Her second book, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals, was a CBCA Honour Book, an ABIA Book of the Year for Younger Children, won an Australian Book Design Award for Younger Readers and was shortlisted for the Children's Indie Book of the Year 2020.

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs was shortlisted for the CBCA Eve Pownall Award and longlisted for Children's Indie Book of the Year Award. Sami's most recent books are How We Came to Be: Surprising Sea Creatures and How We Came to Be: Creatures of Camouflage.