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Meet the artist behind a special new children's book

A child sitting on a beanbag reading The Big Birthday Rescue personalised book. The child is wearing glasses and a red hoodie, and is holding the book with both hands. He is smiling at the book. On the beanbag is a blue blanket and an RNLI lifeboat crew teddy bear. Photo: CHS Agency.

Meet the artist behind a special new children's book

Thursday 26 February 2026

The RNLI’s personalised kids’ books have given more than 30,000 little ones a magical introduction to the charity’s lifesaving work. Now, with a brand-new book launched, illustrator Hannah Lawson reveals the skill and care behind the art that makes children the star of the story.

The Big Birthday Rescue is the latest RNLI picture book that can be personalised to feature your little lifesavers – you simply choose the character that looks most like the child and enter their name. Children get a birthday gift like no other, and the RNLI uses every penny of profit to help save more lives. In this story, a birthday fossil hunt turns into the rescue of a soggy doggy – with the help of lifeboat volunteers!

Artist Hannah Lawson is smiling at the camera while holding a copy of The Big Seaside Rescue personalised book. — Hannah also illustrated *The Big Seaside Rescue*, released in 2024

‘I’m thrilled to work with the RNLI again,’ says Hannah, who previously illustrated The Big Christmas Rescue (starring Santa and Rudolph, who need a lifeboat) and The Big Seaside Rescue (featuring an RNLI lifeguard saving Rudolph). Outside of her work with the RNLI, Hannah’s other published books have included The Cloud and The Lost Stars, which established her unique visual style and were shortlisted for book awards. But how does she set about her illustrations in the first place?

From sketch to story

‘It starts with some standout images in my mind provoked by key parts of the story,’ explains Hannah, ‘which lead quickly into my favourite bit: the storyboard. It’s a series of drawings where you have the freedom to sketch the book out, and figure out the pacing and the flow of the story – to check that you’re doing justice to the tale.’

Next come the ‘roughs’ – a more detailed hand-drawn version of the book where characters really start to take shape. ‘My characters aren’t necessarily fully formed until this stage; I often do separate sketches of them to bring them to life. Animals are my favourite characters to draw – especially the dog rescued in this new story! It’s also been really fun drawing the different child characters for each version of the book.’

Hannah Lawson is sitting at a desk in her art studio. She is surrounded by art supplies, including pots of paintbrushes, pencils, pens and paints. There is lots of art on the walls. She is sketching in a notebook and is wearing a blue-and-white stripe top. — Hannah sketching in her art studio

The final stage sees Hannah scanning her hand-drawn art into a computer, to then manually add watercolour-style touches that give her work its collage-like quality.

Hannah also has a passion for drawing landscapes, reflected in her work outside of children’s books – she’s an artist who sells prints and oil paintings online and in markets. ‘The landscape in this latest book is inspired by the Jurassic coastline I visited as a child when I grew up in Dorset,’ she explains.

A special birthday gift for little ones

‘Growing up near the coast, I have always been in awe of the RNLI lifesavers – it’s a vital service. I feel honoured to work on a book that supports the charity and features safety advice in it that families might need one day,’ says Hannah.

Order your child a special birthday personalised book today at our online shop.

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