*Painting Wonder by Katie Wray Schon

Painting Wonder, an outstanding example of a picture book biography, is a sure winner for all Narnia and Tolkien fans.

*Painting Wonder: How Pauline Baynes Illustrated the Worlds of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien by Katie Wray Schon. Waxwing Books, 2025. 48 pages.

• Reading Level: Picture books, ages 8-10
• Recommended For: Ages 4-10

This little girl will grow up to draw pictures that will wing their way around the world, flying to faraway places. Her pictures will be held in millions of hands— maybe even yours. But who is she? And what will she draw?

And so this genuinely lovely picture book biography opens. The title, of course, gives away the answer: the little girl is Pauline Baynes whose art is now inseparably linked with the Chronicles of Narnia.

From the end papers at the beginning to the end papers at the end, this book is filled with art that reflects Baynes’s own style. The illustrations also tell the story of Pauline Baynes’s life, enhancing the simple text to great effect. We first meet Pauline as a little girl who lives in far away India. She moves to England where she struggles to make friends. Like many lonely children, Pauline finally finds friends—and adventure—in the pages of books!

Pauline’s journey to illustrating C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a fascinating one that first begins with her work for the Navy. Indeed, her journey is almost as interesting as the Pevensie children’s journey!

It’s rare to read a picture book biography as well-told and -illustrated as this one. Schon perfectly captures the style and feel of Baynes’s Narnia illustrations; I suspect I won’t be the only reader who spies familiar-looking elements in the book’s art. Don’t miss the back matter! Do read the book.

*indicates a Redeemed Reader starred review, an outstanding example in its field.

Bottom Line: An outstanding example of a picture book biography, and a sure winner for all Narnia and Tolkien fans.

Recommended Reading at Redeemed Reader

• Review: For the grownups! The Mythmakers by John Hendrix (biography of Tolkien and Lewis)
• Book Reviews: Picture Book Biographies of other children’s book illustrators: It Began With a Page (Gyo Fujikawa), World More Beautiful (Barbara Cooney), Because Barbara (Barbara Cooney), Saving the Countryside (Beatrix Potter), Beatrix Potter, Scientist
• Book Reviews: Picture Book Biographies of C. S. Lewis: Through the Wardrobe and Finding Narnia and of J. R. R. Tolkien: John Ronald’s Dragons

We are participants in the Amazon LLC affiliate program; purchases you make through affiliate links like the one below may earn us a commission. Read more here.

Buy Painting Wonder on amazon.