Work Inquiries:

Editorial: sam dot kalda at gmail.com or “contact” form

Children’s Book Agent: chad@catagencyinc.com

UK Agent: info@folioart.co.uk

Biography

Sam Kalda is an illustrator and author based in Minnesota. He has illustrated ten books for children and adults alike, including Of Cats and Men, When We Walked on the Moon, The Mother of a Movement, and Haunted USA. His work has also appeared on the pages of The New York Times and The New Yorker, among others.

He is a gold medalist from the Society of Illustrators, Golden Kite Award finalist, and shortlisted artist for the 2026 V&A Illustration Award. In 2026, his work was exhibited at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

He's taught at CUNY Queens College and Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and currently teaches drawing and illustration at University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Client List:

The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Warby Parker, Facebook, The Washington Post, Disney Digital, Rockefeller Center, Barnes & Noble, Zillow, Pentagram, West Elm, Vogue.com, The Guardian, Code and Theory, Penguin, Nordstrom, Oxford University Press, Buzzfeed, Ebony, Real Simple, PLANADVISER, WWD, Serpent’s Tail, Bloomsbury, Ten Speed Press, Soho House, The New Republic, NYU, The Boston Globe, Wired, ASOS, Architect Magazine, Wide Eye Books, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Johns Hopkins University and many more.

Awards:

V&A Illustration Award Shortlist (2026), SCBWI Golden Kite Award Finalist (2026), The Society of Illustrators Gold Medal (2017), American Illustration 32, 33, 35, 36, World Illustration Awards Shortlist 2015, 2017, Young Illustrators Award Nominee 2013