Paul Howard, the new Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland and the illustrator behind the much loved children’s classic, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, has spoken of his delight upon hearing that Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, has chosen the book as the CBeebies Bedtime Story to mark Children’s Mental Health Week (7th-13th February). 

The book, written by Jill Tomlinson, follows the story of Plop, a baby barn owl, who is helped by others to grow in confidence and overcome his fears.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Paul who was announced at the beginning of the year as Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University Belfast, said:

“The classic story of ‘The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark’ by Jill Tomlinson has been reassuring children for over 50 years. So, I’m delighted that it has been personally chosen by HRH the Duchess of Cambridge to mark Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week and read as CBeebies’ Bedtime Story this Sunday February 13th at 6.50pm. 

“Over 20 years ago I illustrated Plop the baby barn owl in pastel pencils, in an attempt to make the tactile illustrations feel like a child’s favourite comfort blanket. It’s wonderful to see, in the intervening years, how the same little owl’s story continues to help new generations of children find their own wings to fly.”

Paul Howard took up the post of Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland in January 2022. Created as part of Queen’s University and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's joint ten-year Seamus Heaney Legacy project supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies, he will be based at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s for two years, working with students and engaged in outreach activities with schools and children across Northern Ireland.

Paul is an award-winning writer best known for illustrating Jill Tomlinson’s classic The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark and The Burpee Bears, a new picture book series by Joe Wicks. He has also had a range of his own stories published: young fiction titles, picture books and board books, the latest of which was 1,2, BOO! for Bloomsbury.

Further details of the Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland can be found here.

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shc@qub.ac.uk