Elys Dolan
About Author
Rex Dinosaur in Disguise is the brilliantly funny novel for younger readers from Elys Dolan, who makes picture-books about everything from seagull detectives to capitalist bunny rabbits and weasels plotting world domination.
Elys was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize for Weasels and the Branford Boase for Knighthood for Beginners, and won the inaugural STEAM Children's Book Prize for How the Borks Became and the prestigious Lollies Prize for Mr Bunny's Chocolate Factory. She is also a lecturer on the MA in Children's Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art.
Interview
Rex Dinosaur in Disguise: Undercover Alien (Walker Books)
March 2024
Rex Dinosaur in Disguise is a brilliantly funny illustrated series for younger readers from Elys Dolan, who tells us why she was tempted to create a series about an ordinary town with some extraordinary inhabitants, including a dinosaur, Big Foot and a dodo!
Read a chapter from Rex Dinosaur in Disguise Read a chapter from Rex Dinosaur in Disguise: Undercover Alien
Q&A with Elys Dolan - Rex Dinosaur in Disguise: Undercover Alien
"I thought it would be interesting to explore characters trying to find the balance between being themselves
while at the same time trying to be a part of a baffling world."
1. How did you start writing and illustrating for children?
I started illustrating before I started writing. I went to do the MA in Children's Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art back in 2009 and I had it in my mind then that I was just going to be an illustrator.
I was a bit scared of writing really because I'm dyslexic, so I've often found written words a bit of a challenge. This didn't last long though because I found that no one was writing the sort of stories I wanted to illustrate, so I was going to have to write them myself. Now I write all the time and I love it, I'm glad I was brave enough to give it a go!
2. What kinds of books do you like creating? Had you always planned to be an illustrator?
I like to create the kind of books I'd like to read, which are usually a bit bonkers with plenty of funny bits. This doesn't mean the books can't talk about important stuff, funny isn't the opposite of serious.
I hadn't always planned to be an illustrator. When I was about 5 I wanted to be a high court judge, but that didn't quite happen. When I went off to art school, I wanted to be a serious artist but after discovering that I enjoyed reading the children's books in the gallery gift shop more than looking at the art, I thought a career change was in order.
3. Can you tell us a little about your Rex the Dinosaur series, and his new adventure, Undercover Aliens?
It's all about a dinosaur called Rex who, due to a pesky little ice age, finds himself in the modern world living in disguise as a human.
In this second book Rex is happily living with his roommate, Bigfoot, in the flat above his best human friend Sandra, when something mysterious happens. All the guinea pigs go missing from the pet show at the school fair and Rex unfairly gets the blame. But could there be another creature in disguise behind the mystery? One that's a bit more out of this world…
4. Why did you decide to put a dinosaur at the heart of the books, given that there are also other mythical creatures in the mix?
The world the story is set in evolved by follow its internal logic. I started with the idea that I wanted to do a book about a dinosaur trying to be a human, purely because it tickled me. When I started thinking about it more deeply, I decided that if Rex was going to succeed, he would need help. And who better to help than people who are in the same situation?
This make me wonder if could there be other creatures living amongst us, disguised as humans? There are so many myths and legends that already exist about mysterious creatures who might be hiding from us human, not wanting to attract attention. So, I though the perfect people for Rex to learn from would be a legendary creature like the Loch Ness Monster, a cryptid like Bigfoot and a fellow (not so) extinct creature like a dodo.
5. What gave you the idea to bring spaceships and grumpy aliens into his world? Did you enjoy playing with alien tropes?
Aliens are another great example of a creature that could be living secretly amongst us. After all there's plenty of people who think aliens are really popping over to earth and roaming around. I took this idea, and I thought it would be funny if instead of the aliens coming to invade earth, really, they just come here for their summer holidays and treat it a bit like a nature safari.
6. There are so many funny moments in Undercover Alien. What made you laugh the most when writing / illustrating the book?
Drawings lots and lots of baffled guinea pigs always make me laugh because I think they look a bit like furry potatoes with nervous faces. I also loved writing the character of the Mayor, a.k.a. Linda, because she's so rude and has a total disregard for any rules.
7. And what makes you laugh in real life?
My son who is two and hilarious. Yesterday we were in the car and he looked over at his Dad, who is a little bit bald. He gasped and shouted "DADDY WHERE'S YOU'RE HAIR GONE!?", and then thought about it for a moment and said, "Hmm, mummy took it". I can't claim that I took it, but I may have played some part in it falling out!
8. As well as making your readers laugh, why did you want to explore issues around difference in these books, as this is at the heart of these stories?
I think it's a very relatable feeling and when I look around me at the moment it can feel like tolerance and understanding can be in short supply. I also thought it would be interesting to explore characters trying to find the balance between being themselves while at the same time trying to be a part of a baffling world, because it has an interesting tension to it.
9. What else do you have planned for Rex and his friends? What are you writing currently?
Rex 3 is very much in the works. This time there's some ghostly going-ons down down at the museum and Rex is called in to investigate, with a little help from his friends.
10. If you could spend a day with any of your characters, who would you choose and where would you take them?
I would like Linda the mayor to kidnap me in her limo and take me to her human-shoot. I think it would be a blast.
Watch Elys Dolan introduce Rex Dinosaur in Disguise (book 1).
Rex Dinosaur in Disguise is a brilliantly funny series for younger readers by Elys Dolan - discover all the scrapes that a dinosaur living in an ordinary town can get into! In this video, Elys tells us why she wanted to write about an ordinary town with some extraordinary inhabitants, including a dinosaur, Big Foot and a dodo!
Rex Dinosaur in Disguise: Undercover Alien
Rex: Dinosaur in Disguise
