Noela Young

• Name — Noela Young • Birth Name — Noela Margaret Grace Young • Born — 13 March 1930 • Died — 3 April 2018 • Genre — Children's books • Notable Works — The Muddle-Headed Wombat (illustrator) • Years Active — 1952–2006 • Education — Sydney Girls High School East Sydney Technical College

Noela Margaret Grace Young was born in Sydney on 13 March 1930. She was educated at Sydney Girls High School, completing the Leaving Certificate in 1946. She won a scholarship to East Sydney Technical College despite not studying art at school. There she met her future husband, Walter Cunningham, who taught her book illustration. She graduated in 1951 with a diploma in illustration.

Young worked as a freelancer in 1952 for Ure Smith and the first book she illustrated, David and His Australian Friends, by Enid Bell was described by Tribune as "delightfully illustrated", while the Courier-Mail said it was "charmingly produced and illustrated". During her career she illustrated books by authors including Emily Rodda, Eve Pownall, Patricia Wrightson, Jean Galbraith, Christobel Mattingley and Eleanor Spence. She is, however, best known for her illustrations for the series of books by Ruth Park, beginning with The Muddle-Headed Wombat in 1962. She was contracted by Angus & Robertson to redraw the illustrations to a number of the Snugglepot and Cuddlepie books by May Gibbs, her work on the first being described as "sensitive and imaginative". She also colourised Norman Lindsay's drawings for the 30th edition of The Magic Pudding for Angus & Robertson in 1975. Young worked for The School Magazine, contributing illustrations for stories and poems and also lectured at the National Art School. She designed the cover and made illustrations for the publication to mark the centenary of Sydney Girls High School.

Young married Walter Cunningham (1910–1988), one of her lecturers at East Sydney Technical College. She died on 3 April 2018.

• Flip, the Flying Possum (1963) • Mrs Pademelon's Joey (1967) • Keep Out (1975) • Torty Longneck (1977)

• David and His Australian Friends by Enid Bell (Ure Smith, 1952) • Exploring Australia by Eve Pownall (Methuen, 1958) • The Feather Star by Patricia Wrightson (Hutchinson, 1962) • The Muddle-Headed Wombat by Ruth Park (Angus & Robertson series, 1962–1982) • One Sunday Morning Early by Irene Gough (Ure Smith, 1963) • The Wish Cat, by Jean Chapman (Angus & Robertson, 1966) • Snugglepot and Cuddlepie Meet Mr Lizard by May Gibbs (Snugglepot and Cuddlepie series, Angus & Robertson, 1970–1983) • Once there was a Swagman by Hesba Brinsmead (OUP, 1981) • The Brown and Yellow by Lilith Norman (OUP, 1983) • Finders Keepers by Emily Rodda (Omnibus Books, 1990) • Grandpa by Lilith Norman (Margaret Hamilton Books, 1998)