Born in Enfield in 1905, Eileen moved at a young age to Harner Green in Hertfordshire. Soper was a gifted child, encouraged in her art by her father George, an artist himself. She developed her craft at a very young age, and had her first exhibition at the Print Makers Society of California in 1921. Queen Mary herself purchased one of Soper's prints - Flying Swings. She also was the youngest artist ever to exhibit her work at The Royal Academy in London - at the ripe age of just 15. She moved primarily to illustrating during the 1940's.

 

Eileen’s etchings concern themselves with the ordinary events that make up a child’s day, simple and perhaps monotonous to the adult but ever fresh to the child themselves. The majority of her etchings deal with children at play – on the beach, in country lanes and on street corners – or with animals, as in The Linnets Freedom  . Other plates show a sensitive approach to the solitary child as in the captivation of a child listening to The Childrens Hour on the wireless. One of the reasons why she was able to depict such honest images of children free from nostalgia was that she was scarcely more than a child herself, producing most of the etchings whilst she was in her teens or early 20s.

Eileen Soper illustrated about 50 Enid Blyton books including all 21 of The Famous Five series.