Teddington dad turns son’s wandering attention into neurodiversity picture book

Paul Evans wrote The Diplodocus Who Couldn't Focus for his son Bowen, who was diagnosed as autistic at three. Published on 16 November, it is a funny dinosaur adventure for every child who has ever been told to pay attention.

When Bowen Evans was diagnosed as autistic at the age of three, his family were handed very little information and left, in effect, to work out the next steps on their own. Ten years later his father, Teddington author Paul Evans, has written the book he wishes he could have found back then. The Diplodocus Who Couldn't Focus, illustrated by Harry Harrison, goes on sale in paperback on 16 November 2026.

"We came home with a diagnosis and not much else," says Paul. "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. Their situation is far from unusual. Department for Education figures published in June 2026 show that more than 1.8 million pupils in England have special educational needs, over one in five of the school population, and autism is the most common primary need among children with an education, health and care plan.

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

Nothing in the story names a diagnosis, and Paul is clear that the book belongs on every child's shelf, not only in homes already familiar with the language of neurodiversity. Children get a warm, funny adventure with a loveable dinosaur. A short note at the back gives parents and teachers some gentle language for talking about the different ways children think and pay attention, for those who want it.

"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 says.

"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 Diplodocus Who Couldn't Focus is the first title in The Wonderfully Wired Series, in which each book follows a different character with a different way of thinking, feeling and growing. The next book in development, The Tangerine Who Loved Routine, will follow soon.

Find out more and buy The Diplodocus Who Couldn't Focus.