Pet Defenders 6 - Invasion of the Giant Nits

The sixth & last instalment of the Pet Defenders series by Gareth P Jones & me is published today (9th August) Order it at your nearest book shop or you can buy it online from here

The Pet Defenders Code: 1. The safety of Planet Earth depends on you. 2. Humans MUST NOT know the truth. GOOD LUCK – you’ll need it…

Biskit and Mitzy are confronted by a large alien spider who plans to destroy the planet. Worse, she has an army of nits that she can enlarge with a blast from her own invention: the Relativisor. She can also shrink things with it – and suddenly Mitzy is the size of a louse and clinging to Biskit’s head. Can the Pet Defenders stop the nits ripping the Earth apart? It’s a head-scratcher!

These books have been an absolute delight to draw, they're smart, funny & occasionally fairly disgusting, ALL the good stuff really! I'm going to miss Mitzy & Biskit!

Happy 80th birthday to The Beano!

Happy 80th birthday to The Beano! I loved it as a kid & was extremely honoured to add my own contribution in the form of the 6 Diary of Dennis The Menace books written by Steven Butler for Puffin Books. Huge fun to add my own spin to some of these iconic characters!

World Penguin Day 2018!

Penguin book mark!

Noah Scape - He Can't Stop Repeating Himself - publication day!

'Noah Scape - He Can't Stop Repeating Himself' by Guy Bass with illustrations by me is published today by Barrington Stoke. I previously worked with Guy on Aiden Abet Teacher's Pet

'Noah Scape loves dinosaurs and spaghetti with tomato sauce. But Noah doesn't always get what he wants and when school doesn't revolve around dinosaur facts and lunch isn't always his tried and tested favourite, well... enough is enough! It's time for him to stop wishing and to decide on exactly what he needs; a world full of Noahs!'

(I can honestly say, I don't think I've ever drawn so many versions of the same character in one book - probably a record on my part!)

Imagine Children's Festival with Harry Hill

I had great fun at the Imagine Children's Festival at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 17th February with the very funny Harry Hill promoting his new book 'Harry Hill presents Matt Millz' illustrated by me.

Harry entertained the crowd with an hour of jokes, clarinet-playing mayhem & a joke contest, while
I was live drawing onstage - everything from dancing cucumbers, comedians' eyes to how I draw Matt Millz. I also discussed how my childhood obsession with drawing, dinosaurs & Doctor Who helped my decision  to become an illustrator (I realised I couldn't be a dinosaur when I grew up & I'm STILL waiting for the Doctor Who call!)

Afterwards we signed (lots of) books & posed for lots of selfies with the kids (I just about have the feeling back in my signing hand now!)

(Many thanks to Iain Sawbridge from The Beano for compering & saying some very flattering things & Hannah Love from Faber for all her hard work)

 My very own dressing room!

Drawing dancing cucumbers

Revenge of the Atomic Burps publication day!

It's publication day for the 4th in the Pet Defenders series 'Revenge of the Atomic Burps' written by Gareth P Jones & illustrated by me & published by Stripes. It's another great inventive & funny read (& some of the pictures ain't bad either!) You can buy it here

Harry Hill presents Matt Millz at the Southbank this half term!

I'm very excited to be sharing the stage with Harry Hill & the Beano for this Matt Millz event on Saturday 17th February on the Southbank!
You can buy tickets here...

https://tinyurl.com/ybhafncv

Nearly Summer!

Well, not quite, but here's a glimpse of June from the Arena Illustration 2018 calendar featuring Noah Scape by Guy Bass & me which is published on March 15th by Barrington Stoke

Matt Millz by Harry Hill published today!

Comedian Harry Hill's new children's book Matt Millz is published in hardback today by Faber & Faber it's chock full of illustrations by me.
It's a very funny semi-autobiographical story concerning the eponymous hero & his first attempts at becoming a stand up comedian with the help of his best mate Rob & his manager, the diminutive Kitty Hope.

It was a great project to work on for me as I was given a lot of freedom to illustrate pretty much whatever appealed to me in the text, so I read through & earmarked anything that particularly made me laugh - Matt's mum's performing dog show 'The Dachshund Five' was a particular favourite which BEGGED (no dog pun intended!) to be illustrated...

...and WHO could resist drawing a chimpanzee riding a wildebeest?!!?*

*The answer is no one. No one can resist drawing a chimpanzee riding a wildebeest, this is SCIENTIFIC FACT & I will fight anybody who disagrees (probably)

Matt autographing somebody's dad's bald head.

Kitty Hope - Matt's teeny tiny manager.

Squirrel toupee for headmaster Mr Pavey.

Matt on the T-Factor talent show

(NB don't try this at home kids!)

Matt Millz on BBC Breakfast

Inspired by letters from kids who want to follow in his footsteps @HarryHill's written about a boy who wants to be a stand-up comedian 📖 🎤 pic.twitter.com/J6IjJtWldq

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) October 12, 2017

Harry Hill reading from his new book Matt Millz on BBC Breakfast today with lashings of lovely illustrations by me!

The Night Knight

My second collaboration with the brilliant Timothy Knapman The Night Knight is out now published by Oxford University Press. I previously illustrated Silly Name For A Monster for Tim

When Jake is woken by odd noises at night & is scared the Night Knight appears to help but will the Knight help Jake or will Jake end up helping the Knight?
You can buy a copy here

Cover reveal! Matt Millz by Harry Hill

Here's a look at the cover for comedian Harry Hill's new book Matt Millz which I recently finished illustrating.
I had great fun illustrating this hilarious story of Matt Millz' attempts to become the youngest stand up comedian in the world & will reveal more when it's published (promise!)

It's published on19th October by Faber & Faber & you can pre-order from here

This Book Isn't Safe!

I recently produced some illustrations for YouTuber Colin Furze's first book 'This Book Isn't Safe!' published by Puffin.
If you've ever wondered how to make concrete shoes? Or how to build your own downhill trike? Or how to tidy your room in three seconds using a lever? Then this is the book for you!

Escape From Planet Bogey published today!

Get your tissues at the ready because today sees the publication of Escape from Planet Bogey the third of the Pet Defenders series by the hilarious Gareth P Jones & illustrated by me. 

There's six books in total so this is the half way point of the series. 

The Pet Defenders Code: 1. The safety of Planet Earth depends on you. 

2. Humans MUST NOT know the truth. 

GOOD LUCK - you'll need it... Animals are disappearing from Nothington-on-Sea and the Pet Defenders suspect alien activity.

Secret agents Biskit and Mitzy find themselves caught up in the Planet Bogey Games.

Biskit suspects the contest might hold the key to finding his missing partner, Champ.

Can our heroes win the game? And what's more, can they get back home after?

You can order online it from here or even better get down to your local bookshop & get a copy from there!

As you can imagine I got through a fair amount of tissues during this extremely snotty job!