Paula Bowles is an award-winning children's book illustrator based in Weston-super-Mare. She is the illustrator of There's a Poonami in My House (Gallery Kids), shortlisted for the British Book Awards in 2025, and the Marv young fiction series, written by Alex Falase-Koya (Oxford University Press).
Paula has just finished illustrating the Dinosaur Guides (Mama Makes Books) aimed at toddlers and grown-ups and tackling everyday challenges with warmth, humour and a little dino magic! From picky eating to bedtime battles, the stories use humour and empathy to help toddlers understand positive behaviours and provide a tool for parents to open conversations with their toddlers.
Rex is a spirited, curious little dinosaur with four older friends who are a guiding influence in his life. Each book has a ‘find me’ flap, an opening eye and a surprise pop-up finale. The storytelling has rhyme, repetition and lots of dialogue between Rex and his older friends plus spot Rocky, Rex’s pet rock, hidden through the books. All of which will keep toddlers entertained and wanting to revisit the books again and again.
In Big Like You, Rex and his friends guide readers to healthy food choices that will make them grow big, strong, fast and smart! Maybe even as magnificent as Rex’s Grandpa, Big T.
In Not Sleepy, Rex and his friends guide readers through a bedtime routine that will help in getting a good night’s sleep and get up ready for another day of play!
Q. Do you feel your artistic style has been influenced by a particular illustrator or illustrators? If so, can you tell us how they have inspired or influenced your work?
A. I feel like my style has changed and developed over the years, influenced from my own childhood books, and even 90s kids tv and animated movies! I adore the humour in books illustrated by Quentin Blake and Richard Scarry, and the cosy little worlds of the Brambly Hedge series.
Q. How would you describe your own style of illustration?
A. Cute, dynamic, humorous, colourful, empathic.
Q. Do you have a preferred medium?
A. I do my colour work in photoshop using a Wacom Cintiq, I like using just a few brushes with natural feeling textures similar to pencil and paint. I also love using Procreate on my iPad, mostly for black and white art and rough sketches. The iPad is useful because it’s portable, so I can work away from home sometimes!
Q. Where do you work? Do you have a studio, or a place that you find inspires you to get creative?
A. I work mostly from home, I have a desk in my large living room which has a beautiful sea view! I also desk-share at a studio in Bristol which I try to get to as often as I can, as it’s nice to get out of the house and see other illustrator friends.
Q. In addition to your own books, you have also illustrated books for fellow writers, including the Marv series with Alex Falase-Koya, and There's a Poonami with Chris & Rosie Ramsey. How does this collaborative process work for you?
A. I love being paired with authors, it’s always exciting to be one of the first people to read the new story! I work with the designer who sends me the text along with ‘page-layouts’ which has all the text roughly positioned in place on each page. I first work on character development sketches which need to be approved by the publishing team and the authors. I then work on rough sketches for the page-layouts, often starting with small very rough ‘thumbnail’ sketches which, once approved, I will sketch in more detailed ‘full-sized’ roughs. The text will sometimes get moved around if my art composition needs to be a certain way, and sometimes I will need to compose my art around the text. I often like including little sub-stories in the pictures, for example some little bugs or frogs who react to the main story. The whole process is quite collaborative, with meetings and feedback from the designer, editor and authors.
Q. Is there an author that you would love to work with?
A. I’m lucky to have worked with some fantastic authors already, but I would love to illustrate a picture book written by Karl Newson, Lu Fraser or Rachel Bright, I just love their imaginative rhyming stories.
Q. What projects are you working on now? Will there be more in the Dinosaur Guides series?
A. I’m quite busy at the moment, illustrating a set of board books, a picture book, and an older chapter book series. I’m also developing and editing my own new picture book idea. And I’ve just illustrated one of the winning stories for the BBC 500 Words competition. Oh, and excitingly, there are also two more Dinosaur Guide books in the pipeline: The Hatchlings (about becoming an older sibling) and Sneezes and Wheezes (about being ill and caring for others) are publishing this Autumn.
Q. It is so important that young children fall in love with books at an early age but what do you think makes a truly engaging book for toddlers?
A. Relatable characters who mirror situations and challenges that a toddler can find themselves in. A fun, easy to read story that toddlers can become familiar with, and one that survives multiple readings! Interactive books with flaps and pop-ups!
Q. 2026 is the National Year of Reading. Are you involved in any plans or initiatives for the year, and if the campaign could achieve just one thing, what would you hope that would be?
A: I will be at the Hay Festival with Alex Falase-Koya where we will celebrate reading with children and our Marv book series! If the Year of Reading campaign could achieve just one thing, I would like that to be for every child to discover a book that they can see themselves represented in.
@Paula_Bowles | @Mamamakesbooks
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