Maria is an award winning illustrator and author with an animation background. After graduating 2007 from the University of Media in Stuttgart in Audiovisual Media, she started working as an animation artist. Maria worked on award winning projects such as "The Gruffalo".

In 2011 she went after her dream of drawing all day taking her creative journey to new shores. Shortly after leaping into her illustration career her first author-illustrator-project "Schlafplatz gesucht!", was published by Bohem Press. In 2017 she authored her first chapter book "Zoës Welt - Das war ich nicht, das war schon so" published by cbj/Random House Germany.

Maria loves creating illustrations with a strong narrative, colourful and beautifully composed to entertain children and adults alike. Her passion for anything creative led to founding her own illustration agency Wundergarden in 2014. Here she represents and fosters some of todays most exciting artists in the children’s publishing world.

In 2019 she added yet another exciting project to her list in founding her Illustrations School . Here she offers classes and support for creatives from all around the world to foster illustration and creativity in general.

With her family she lives in the swedish forrest where fox, hare and moose bid each other goodnight.

Clients include: Big Cat HarperCollins, Picture Kelpies an imprint of Floris Books, Kerle Verlag, Herder Verlag, HABA, Connect Marketing, Bohem Press, Magination Press, American Greetings, Aladdin / Simon & Schuster, Clavis Books, Oxford University Press, Roth GmbH, Parragon, Heilemann Confiserie, cbj Verlag/Verlagsgruppe Randomhouse, Ueberreuter/Annette Betz Verlag, Lesniak|Swan, Highlights Magazine, Ladybug Magazine, FISCHER Duden Kinderbuch, ellermann im Dressler Verlag, Gabriel Verlag, Arena Verlag, Coppenrath Verlag, HOLP GmbH, Neckarufer Verlag, Free Spirit Publishing, Oetinger Verlag, Kaufmann Verlag

Awards:
2013 Nautilus Silver Award for "Ben's Flying Flowers"
2013 Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award for "Healing Days"

Maria has illustrated two Magination Press picture books -- ‘Ben’s Flying Flowers‘ and ‘Healing Days‚ -- about death of a sibling and experienced trauma. Not only did she create beautiful art, Maria puts her heart and soul into her work, and goes that extra mile to reflect a nuanced understanding and appreciation for the very special needs of our parent-child audience. I highly recommend Maria, and I can’t wait to commission her to illustrate another book!‘
Kristine Enderle | Director, Magination Press

'It was a real pleasure working with Maria Bogade. She is a highly imaginative children's illustrator, who produces characterful, vibrant illustrations in a wide range of styles.'
Sally Polson | Senior Commissioning Editor Picture Kelpies

'Maria was commissioned to illustrate Collins Big Cat ‘Getting Dressed’ in March 2011. Maria completed the project on time, to a high standard.Her artwork really brought the book to life and we were very happy with the finished result. It was a pleasure working with Maria and I would not hesitate to highly recommend her to any potential clients.'
Emma Hipshon | Editor HarperCollins Big Cat