Sophie Dahl is the bestselling author of four books for
adults, and three for children, and the writer of two BBC
2 prime-time shows.
Her debut, an illustrated novella called The Man With
The Dancing Eyes, was published by Bloomsbury in
2003. This was followed by a novel, Playing With The
Grown-Ups, in 2007.
A devoted home-cook, her memoir of food, Miss Dahl’s
Voluptuous Delights, was published by HarperCollins in
2009, and a BBC2 series, The Delicious Miss Dahl,
based on recipes and stories from the book, aired the
following year. In 2011, Sophie wrote and presented a
BBC2 social history documentary about the Victorian
domestic advisor Isabella Beeton, and her second
cookbook, From Season To Season (HarperCollins),
was published.
Sophie’s first book for children, Madame Badobedah, was published by Walker Books in
October 2019. Her second, The Worst Sleepover In The World was published in November
2021. Madame Badobedah was nominated for a Greenaway Medal, selected as one of both
The Guardian's and The Sunday Times's Children’s Books of The Year in 2019, and in the
US, it was one of Amazon.com's Best Children’s books of 2020 and was awarded a Parent’s
Choice Gold Award. Its sequel, Madame Badobedah and The Old Bones, was published by
Walker in 2023, and was again a Times and Guardian book of the year.
Sophie has written non- fiction essays for US Vogue, Vogue, The New York Times, The
Guardian and The Sunday Times. She has judged the Women’s Prize for Fiction and
Vogue’s Young Talent Contest. She is a contributing editor and columnist at House and
Garden magazine.
Sophie is also an Ambassador of children’s mental health charity Place2Be, who provide
mental health support and advocacy in schools across the UK.
She lives in the country with her husband and two daughters, rescue dog, cats, guinea pigs
and tortoise. When she was five she won an award for being her swimming class’s, “Most
enthusiastic swimmer”.