The world famous London Underground stations are about to come to life - as they take the shape of animals in a brand new children's book.
Kids will be able to meet lovable characters such as 'Cockfosters' the cockerel, 'Hounslow' the hound and 'Hammersmith' the pig - all based on the unique design of the London Tube map.
Paul Middlewick, 44, was able to pen designs centered around the various Underground lines to create the animal shapes back in the Eighties.
Paul's designs, such as Elephant & Castle - despite being drawn around lines in West London - are based on various Underground lines shapes he drew as a boy in the Eighties
Barking the dog: World famous London Underground stations about to come to life in Paul Middlewick's books
The characters, such as Bottlenose the dolphin, are attracting attention across Europe because London Underground is so iconic
But, like the Underground system itself, his project is subject to delay. The book has yet to land a publishing deal despite huge interest around the world.
Paul, from Balham, South London, reckons the first run of self-published books has sold so well it should push a deal through.
He said: 'We're approaching 1,000 sales in London alone. We need a reprint and that's why we need the backing of a major publisher, to take it to the next level.
'If we can get a distribution and publishing deal we can make a real success of it.'
The 35 lovable animals are based on the original designs by Paul, but have been brought to life by sketching new designs and giving them individual characteristics.
Paul added: 'We want to move into animation and other things, but first we must establish the characters.
'They're all named after tube stations, for example 'Barking' the dog - but we've had to think more about the individual characteristics from the way they look.
'We've linked forgetfulness with our elephant, but we have a library of emotions and they'll carry on through the series of books.
'I've written a couple more, they're being illustrated at the moment.
'This has been in the pipeline for years - I started penning the characters seriously in 1988 but I had spotted them in the early Eighties.
It's been great bringing to life characters such as Hammersmith the pig, says Paul
Paul is taking his books, including the character Mudchute the Snail, to the Frankfurt Book Fair in the hope of landing a major publishing deal
The fish called Angel quite suitably straddles the Thames, running from King's Cross to the Elephant & Castle, blowing bubbles into Baker Street, Bond Street and Edgware Road
'It's been great to bring the characters to life; they're more fun, cuddly and lovable and it opens up a bigger market.
'There's been interest from Sweden, Italy, Spain, Greece - they all seem to appreciate the idea.
'I thought it may be an issue getting the Tube map worldwide but it's so well known internationally there's no difficulty - it's an iconic design.'
Paul will take the book to the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest in the world, in early October where he hopes to finally land the mega deal he dreams of.
Coming to life: The world famous London Underground stations take the shape of animals in the brand new children's book
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