Lo Cole is the author and illustrator of Scooter Dog and Doris and is appearing at the Chiswick Book Festival’s ‘Children’s Books Day’ on March 7th 2026. He was brought up in South Parade, Bedford Park, with his sister Alison, editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper and director of the Cultural Policy Unit. He has followed in his parents’ footsteps, becoming an illustrator like his mother Joanne and creating successful children’s characters as his father Michael did.
Lo became a children’s author on the back of a successful career as an illustrator spanning 40 years: he designed the album cover for Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome in 1984, worked in advertising and has illustrated editorial for The Guardian and The Economist for 25 years. Read his interview on The Chiswick Calendar.
Growing up with Bod
Lo’s parents Michael and Joanne Cole created Bod, a children’s character which became a hit TV series in 1975, narrated by John Le Mesurier. The books were published a decade earlier in 1965, written for Lo and Alison. Michael and Jo also created Fingerbobs and, in the 1980s Michael went on to create Gran. Read Why Michael Cole was an incredible star of children’s television – Curious British Telly.
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The Bod books were republished in 2015 and Alison told The Independent: “My parents were looking at books to read to me. They didn’t like the stories at the time such as Noddy with its black and white morality. They wanted something that was more gentle and timeless… Books tended to have lots of text and one picture per page. My dad felt it should be the other way around; a lot more drawings and fewer words”. Read also: Unpublished Bod books portray even more absurd characters and stories – The Guardian.
After their father’s death in 2001, Alison wrote and Lo illustrated two new Bod books called Bod’s Way: The Meaning of Life and Bod’s New Leaf. “We drew on mum and dad’s Taoist philosophy,” said Alison. “Bod had become a cult character – our books were written for people who grew up with Bod. They are light philosophy books with a sense of humour”.
Bod was a family affair, with Joanne illustrating and Michael writing, and Alison involved when the books became the BBC series: “My first holiday job when I was a student was colouring the cartoons [and] painting all the cells in a shed in Acton. It was great fun, but I can still see where I went over the lines.”
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Read: Here Come The Coles – The Hound interviews Lo and Alison Cole
Bringing back Bod in 2026
Lo and Alison have been talking for some time about creating another series of Bod for a new generation of children. They are delighted that new episodes are now in development by Terrific Television and we can show you two images above – from Bod and the Scarf and Bod and the Bees. Nic Ayling of Terrific Television says: “I’m very happy for you to say that a remake of Bod is in development and that it will be narrated by a number of former Play School presenters. There has been interest from broadcasters but we don’t yet have a broadcaster confirmed”.
Gentle life lessons for small children
Lo Cole’s books offer some gentle life lessons to small children: ‘Scooter dogs love to go SUPERFAST. Flying across fields, whizzing through woods, bombing along the beach. But when Eddie has a crash and his scooter is out of action, his friend Thelma shows him all the things you can only discover when you walk …’