About

Hello! I’m Paula Franco and I’m a children’s book illustrator living in Rosario, Argentina.

I studied Illustration & Graphic Design at  Instituto Superior Comunicación Visual (ISCV Fundación Rosario Diseño).  After graduating, I lived in the Republic of San Marino for two years where  I worked as an illustrator and graphic designer until I decided to follow  my true passion, children’s book illustration.

I signed with my agent in 2011 and have been working with many wonderful publishers in the United States, Europe, and South America ever since.

My work has been featured  in the New York Times Children’s Best Seller list and has been awarded a  Kirkus Star and a School Library Journal Star.

I work from my studio office at home alongside my four lovely mixed-breed rescue dogs and my sweet rescue cat. They are my noisy office assistants!

Full Bio:

I have  always been drawn to vivid and colourful images, intricate patterns, textures, details, and fun characters that are full of life.

I take inspiration from the world around us, but enjoy to infuse aspects of magic into my work. I have  illustrated almost 100 published children’s books. Some have been adapted for television, and have even won awards and become bestsellers. I’d love to have a Secret Garden or live in a place like Green Gables, and I am a keen gardener, and explorer. I’m  aware of our environmental impact on the planet, I’m a vegetarian, and try to live a low waste, simple life. I’m also a huge animal lover, who likes nothing better than rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming. Sometimes I even gets to keep them!

In my spare time, I enjoy playing the ukulele, learning languages (on top of Spanish, English and Italian), playing old videogames, and watching Ghibli films.