Teddington author Paul Evans publishes The Diplodocus Who Couldn't Focus on 16 November. He wrote it for his son Bowen, diagnosed as autistic at three.

A Teddington father has written a children’s picture book for his autistic son. Paul Evans’s The Diplodocus Who Couldn’t Focus goes on sale in paperback on Monday 16 November, Richmond Council said on Wednesday.

His son Bowen was diagnosed as autistic at the age of three. The family were given very little information and left largely to work out the next steps on their own. Ten years on, Paul has written the book he says he wishes he could have found then.

“We came home with a diagnosis and not much else,” he said. “You find yourself searching for anything that helps you understand your child. What I wanted most was a story I could read with Bowen that showed him at his best, without turning him into the subject of a lesson.”

The help the family needed came through Bowen’s nursery and primary school, where Paul says they found incredible support.

What the book is about

The heroine is Daisy the Diplodocus, who is always the last to arrive. She is too busy chasing butterflies, watching beetles do flips and listening to birdsong. When her class sets off to find the rare dragon fruit, her wandering attention lands her in trouble again. Then the dinosaur who keeps losing focus finds something nobody else could.

Front cover of The Diplodocus Who Couldn't Focus: a pink cartoon diplodocus runs through a jungle clearing while a yellow dinosaur, a red T rex, a blue dinosaur and two triceratops watch, with bamboo behind them
The front cover, with illustrations by Harry Harrison. Image: via the Wonderfully Wired Series website

Nothing in the story names a diagnosis. Paul wants it on every child’s shelf, not only in homes that already know the language of neurodiversity. A short note at the back gives parents and teachers some gentle words for talking about the different ways children think and pay attention.

“I’d love a child to pick this at bedtime because Daisy and her friends make them laugh and the ending makes them cheer,” he said. “If they also come away a little kinder to the classmate who’s always gazing out of the window, or a little prouder of being that classmate, then Daisy has done her job.”

The book in brief

According to the series website:

  • it is a fully illustrated picture book for ages 4 to 8, 32 pages long
  • the illustrations are by Harry Harrison
  • it is the first title in The Wonderfully Wired Series, in which each book follows a different character with a different way of thinking
  • the next book in development is The Tangerine Who Loved Routine

The website describes Paul as a Teddington entrepreneur who works in marketing, and says this is his debut picture book. It also offers signed copies.

What it means for you

If you have a child aged roughly four to eight, this is a local author’s book you can pick up from Monday. The series website has the buying links, including signed copies from Paul himself.

Sources