Zoe Saunders

Zoe Saunders – Designer

I'm a Friendly and professional Children's Book Illustrator. I create sweet and whimsical illustrations which have a timeless charm.

Overview

NOW TAKING BOOKINGS FOR PROJECTS STARTING IN SEPTEMBER 2025


My name is Zoe and I am a freelance artist and children's book illustrator based in Cheshire, UK.


I have always had a love of artistry. I love to sketch, paint and create sweet characters. I am particularly fascinated by animals, both real and magical, and love the detailed setting of nature and foliage.


I love to work in pen and watercolour and have a cute and whimsical style. I also work digitally and find this offers much more freedom and convenience that it gives when creating children's books. I aim for a whimsical and traditional feel to my digital work too, so that it offers the best of both worlds.


I have worked for authors both in the UK and far away lands, creating bespoke illustrations for their precious stories.


Children's book illustration and design is my passion, and my aim is to not only provide authors with beautiful illustrations for their picture books, but to also provide a friendly, stress-free experience, completed in a timely manner. Each step of the way we will work together, to create the book of your dreams.


I have also worked on projects such as business logos, public house signs, pet food packaging, and private commissions.


Please feel free to get in touch to discuss any project you have.

Services
Non-Fiction
Children’s Non-Fiction Nature Parenting & Families
Fiction
Middle Grade Picture Books
Languages
English
Awards
  • Honorary mention in the 2018 'SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Competition' anthology.
Certifications
  • I am a full member of the Society of Children's Book Authors and Illustrators (SCBWI)

Work experience

Self-employed

Sep, 2015 — Present
I am an experienced picture book illustrator who has worked on over 50 books so far. I have helped to guide many first time picture book authors through the process of self publishing their books. Including planning, designing, illustrating, and typesetting, finally presenting the author with their final files ready to upload to Ingram Spark, Amazon KDP or other publishing platform. I have a friendly and enthusiastic manner and aim to make the whole process as fun and stress free as possible. I have also written, illustrated, and published my own books via Ingram Spark. My picture books 'The Lonely Dragon' and 'How to Make a Wish' are available on Amazon and in other book stores, along with my chapter book series, 'The Adventures of Hetty Honeywort'.

Portfolio

Big Brown Bear: A Sensory Story

Saunders, Zoe

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Made with Reedsy
Two Frisky Kittens: How to Count High Real Quick

Lapre, Robin

Robin Lapre

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Made with Reedsy
The Snugbugs: Posie’s Snowy Nighttime Adventure

Friedman, Joanna

Snugbug Books

Illustration
The Boy Who Loved Vacuum Cleaners

Akser, Uzma

Uzma Akser

Illustration
Basil, Boris and Billy

Phillips, Christopher

Oysterbird Publishing

Made with Reedsy
Sunny's First Day

Artiles, Dr. Julissa

self

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Raptor Boy

Saunders, Zoe

Whimsicolour Publishing

Made with Reedsy
Asher's Big Emotions

Pink, Felicia

Felicia Pink

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Hetty Honeywort and the Pumpkin Pandemonium (The Adventures of Hetty Honeywort Book 2)

Saunders, Zoe

Made with Reedsy
Stay, Winston!

Cooper, Ashley

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Made with Reedsy
Meme’s Farm

Rittson-Thomas, Kathie

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Hetty Honeywort and the Mermaid Mystery (The Adventures of Hetty Honeywort)

Saunders, Zoe

My Hypermobility

Pinnington, Leah

Cover Design Typography Book Interior Design
Made with Reedsy
Lovable Lucy: The Kitten in the Garden

Fowke, Melissa

Made with Reedsy
Today is the Day!: Otis Goes to the Beach

Williamson, Katie

Made with Reedsy
The Christmas Camel

Permut, Susan

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
The Snugbugs

Friedman, Joanna

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Made with Reedsy
It's Great Weather For Ducks: Daggles, It's Great Weather For Ducks

Little, Kim B

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
The Happy Puppy

Placido, Sophie

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Today, I wish for a sister

Bock, Irina

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Mabel Menichetti Makes the Best Spaghetti

Groome, Eileen

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Ellery's Magic Bicycle

Monte, Maria

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Tired Mommy

Dudish, Nicole

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Far Apart, Together at Heart: A children's book about COVID-19 and what we did to keep one another safe

Delegro, Kelliann

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
I Love Your Heart: and All Your Feeling Parts

Gereau, Cara

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Abc Is That Safe for Me?

Diane Lynn Marunczak

Through colorful pictures and fun rhyming verses, learn a variety of different ways to prepare your child to confidently and safely manage school days with food allergies.
Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
The Little Ninja That Could: Conquer Kindergarten (1)

Howell, Mallory

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
The Mysterious Pool

McIver, Charlene

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Soft Brown Ears

Matchett, Lynn

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Heute wünsche ich mir eine Schwester: Der Traum eines Ponys (German Edition)

Bock, Irina

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Dennis And Shannon Go Shopping (The Adventures of Dennis and Shannon)

Murdo, Richard

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Dennis and Shannon's First Visit to the Zoo (The Adventures of Dennis and Shannon)

Murdo, Richard

Cover Design Illustration
Made with Reedsy
Dennis learns to drive (The Adventures of Dennis and Shannon)

Murdo, Richard

Cover Design Illustration
Bandit - Lost in the Forest

Sanders, MT

Amber and George: A New Baby Story

Saunders, Zoe

Hetty Honeywort and the Dragon Disaster

Saunders, Zoe

Peter Pug: The Best Awful Young Pirate in Pugtown

Scott, Corey

The Future Is Yours!

Fante, Mario

Tales of Teddy Tooth

Slim, Lynne

WHITE RABBITS

Halewood, Kate

A special journey colouring book: My Autism and Me

Batty, Leanne E

Cover Design Illustration
A Special Journey

Batty, Leanne E

Cover Design Illustration
A Spot of New

Anastasia, P

Cover Design Illustration
Mighty Monty: A Newf kind of Superhero

Sanders, Mt

Honey Harvest

Kerr, Elissa

Morning Puppa

Anastasia, P

Cover Design Illustration
Life According to Monty Dogge

Sanders, Mt

Cover Design
Come Fly With Me Colouring Book

Amison, Katie

Cover Design Illustration
The Gratitude Seed

Appleby, Linda

Cover Design Illustration
A Connemara Fairy Tale

Heanue, Nicola

Cover Design Illustration
Come Fly With Me

Amison, Katie

Cover Design Illustration
Sunkissed

Kerr, Elissa

Cover Design Illustration
Monty and the Land of the Dinodogs

Sanders, Mt

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Monty And Friends African Adventure: The Mission To Save Kaluwa

Sanders, Mt

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
The Humble Seed

Appleby, Linda

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
The Sweetest Season

Kerr, Elissa

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
The Mindful Seed (Seeds of Imagination)

linda Appleby

Harry Brown carelessly throws a rock at a tree and causes a bluebirds nest to fall. He rushes to find help to put the nest back on the tree brunch. Harry’s mother carefully puts the nest back ... read more
Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
How to Make a Wish

Zoe Saunders

Come on a journey through the countryside, as Big Red Fox teaches Little Red Fox how to make wishes. A dreamy children's story with delightful watercolour illustrations, and a heartwarming end... read more
Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
The Apple Tree

John Rebholz

A true story of a son remembering his father.The story takes the reader on a journey through 3 generations, showing the kind of life his Father had, his adventures and more importantly, what h... read more
Cover Design Illustration
Monty and Friends Save Christmas

Mt Sanders

When Santa visits Monty's house, things don't quite go to plan. Cookie has managed to scare the reindeers away and they are nowhere to be seen. Children around the world are waiting, but who w... read more
Cover Design Illustration
Monty and the Ocean Rescue: A Plastic Disaster

Mt Sanders

Monty, Cookie and the spangles are back at the beach.When Cookie sees a splash in the water her newfydoof instinct to rescue takes over and she immediately heads out to help.What follows is an... read more
Cover Design Illustration
The Lonely Dragon

Zoe Saunders

High up in the mountains, far above the clouds, where the Earth meets the sky, there lived a lonely dragon... The dragon embarks on a great journey travelling far and wide, in search of a frie... read more
Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Monty and the Poppit Dragon

Mt Sanders

A Seaside Adventure! Monty, Cookie and the spangles are off on their holidays to sunny Pembrokeshire and the beautiful beach at Poppit Sands.In a cave they meet a new friend, the Poppit Dragon... read more
Cover Design Illustration
The Kindness Seed (Seeds of Imagination)

Linda Appleby

Penelope Green has forgotten kindness until she enters the enchanted fairy woodland. In windy whispers, the magical trees tell Penelope a tale about the fairies, the kindness seed and the Knot... read more
Cover Design Illustration

Zoe has 29 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Robin L.

Robin L.

May, 2025

When you hire Zoe, you are getting more than an illustrator. You are hiring someone who will look at your story and find ways to tie pages together and make your story even better. One thing I really appreciated about Zoe was the amount of upfront work and thought she puts into a project at the...
Read more
Anthony F.

Anthony F.

May, 2025

As a first-time author, working with Zoe on my cover design was an excellent experience. Her publishing knowledge and advice were just what I needed. I'm delighted with the work done and the communication throughout the project. I have given her a second project to work on, and I have no hesitati...
Read more
Joanna F.

Joanna F.

Nov, 2024

Zoe is amazing!!! She is the perfect illustrator for me and this was my second project with her. I couldn't be happier working with her!!! She is also a marvelous person and a wonderful collaborator! I feel so lucky to have found Zoe!
Jestina S.

Jestina S.

Nov, 2024

Great job!
Julissa A.

Julissa A.

Sep, 2024

I had the pleasure of working with ZOE and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the results. She brought my vision to life with incredible skill and creativity. The collaboration was smooth, and Zoe was not only professional but also a joy to work with. I highly recommend her services to anyone looki...
Read more
Zoe S.
Thank you so much for your lovely review Julissa. I had a great time working with you and am SO proud to have my name on the cover of your gorgeous picture book, Sunny’s First Day. It turned out be...
Read more

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