Share on Facebook

Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts

Wednesday 21 February 2024

Sammy And The Extra Hot Chilli Powder


 There's a nice write up about my new book 'Sammy And The Extra Hot Chilli Powder' on my agent's site here

Steve May masterfully illustrates the latest adventure by Charlie P. Brooks as we emBARK on a rip-roaring diamond heist adventure.

This week we celebrate the publication of Sammy and the Extra-Hot Chilli Pepper, written by Charlie P. Brooks with a stunning jacket and internal illustrations by Arena’s very own Steve May.

Setterpoo Sammy is a dog with an extraordinary sense of smell, in fact, she has the best nose in the business if you're a sniffer dog! She can sniff out ANYTHING - diamonds, watches, explosives and even parrots! But in an incident involving some extra-hot chilli pepper she completely loses her sense of smell.

This spells disaster for Sammy! Not only is she unable to smell her favourite treat (sausages) but also, she is 'retired' from the Border Security Dog Unit. But every cloud has a silver lining when Harry her handler finds a new home for Sammy in a small village called Bloomington with a little girl called Beanie and her mum. The pair soon become best friends and it's not long before Sammy's sense of smell starts to return. When mysterious events begin to occur the pair leap into action and become the village investigators. Mogpuss the cat goes missing, Farmer Gerard's eggs are stolen and then half of the villagers lose their broadband connection - DISASTER! But - in a dramatic turn of events, Sammy's expert sense of smell is needed back in London to help foil a dastardly plot to steal a precious diamond. She’ll have to use ALL her instincts to save the day!

 

Steve’s illustrations bring a comic magic to this brilliant read, from stinky bins, smelly socks and sausages to fish heads, burgers and stale eggs. Steve’s intuitive sense of humour and fun shine through and will ensure that this book really grabs the attention of a host of young story seekers. 

You can take a look at an extract HERE.

 "I love drawing dogs although I usually approach them with a fair amount of 'Steve May' artistic licence but this one required specific breeds so I enjoyed the challenge of drawing Sammy and her pals. There's also a wonderfully snooty cat cat called Mogpuss who was rather fun to imagine too!" - Steve May

Steve is a prolific doodler, artist, rock star and animator and has worked with the likes of Phil Earle, Francesca Simon, and Harry Hill alongside clients such as the BBC, The Economist and Discover Story Centre. Based in London, Steve works digitally and in pen and ink with a spontaneous freedom which joyfully leaps off the page. With many projects including the Dennis the Menace brand under his belt, his talent for creating chaotic attention-grabbing, cartoon style characters are unparalleled.


Wednesday 14 February 2024

PUBLICATION DAY for Sammy & the Extra-Hot Chilli Powder!

Sammy & The Extra Hot Chilli Powder is published today!

It's written by Charlie P Brooks & illustrated by me & published by Harper Collins Childrens & was great fun bringing Sammy & her canine / human friends to life (there's a good villain in there too - they're ALWAYS fun!) 

I love drawing dogs although I usually approach them with a fair amount of 'Steve May' artistic licence but this one required specific breeds so I enjoyed the challenge of drawing Sammy & her pals. There's also a wonderfully snooty cat cat called Mogpuss who was rather fun to imagine too!

'A warm and brilliantly funny family comedy told from the perspective of Sammy the sniffer dog – perfect for younger readers aged 7 and up

Setterpoo Sammy has a BRILLIANT sense of smell. She can sniff out ANYTHING – watches, explosives, even parrots!

But one day, Sammy sniffs some EXTRA-HOT chilli powder and loses her sense of smell COMPLETELY. It’s up to Sammy’s Best Human Friend, Beanie, to help her get it back.

And when Sammy finds out that someone is planning to steal a precious DIAMOND, she’ll have to use ALL her instincts to save the day!'







 

Monday 8 May 2023

Dog Save The King!


 Getting into the patriotic spirit at the weekend. (I'm back on the green ink because that's all I have left but I kind of like it!)

Tuesday 18 April 2023

Tuesday 12 July 2022

Phew! What a scorcher!


 'When it gets too hot for comfort

And you can't get an ice cream cone
T'ain't no sin to take off your skin
And dance around your bones'

Tom Waits

Friday 4 June 2021

Cats, buses & harmonicas...

You know they talk about herding cats? Imagine driving a bus full of 'em?


(from an original idea from the great Bob Mortimer!)

Thursday 25 June 2020

'Walkies'

Villains are always the best fun to draw...

Thursday 13 February 2020

Publication Day for Anna Gain & The Same Sixty Seconds!

Anna Gain & The Same Sixty Seconds by Guy Bass & illustrated by me is our 4th collaboration for Barrington Stoke & is published today! 

There's time travel, chaos (& the occasional dog's bum - what MORE can you want?!?)

"Ever-punctual Anna Gain is never late, and she's certainly never late for the school bus. Every day she catches it in perfect time. But not today. After a series of absurd events cause Anna to miss the bus, she's transported one minute back in time - only to be stuck re-living the same sixty seconds again ... and again ... and again ... Is fate trying to teach Anna a lesson? And will she ever escape? A laugh-out-loud and punny take on 'Groundhog Day' from a top-notch author-illustrator pairing, particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 8+"




Thursday 30 May 2019

Monday 25 March 2019

Thursday 3 May 2018

Cheese From Dimension Pong

May 3rd 2018 is publication day for Cheese From Dimension Pong the 5th in the Pet Defenders series by Gareth P Jones & I published by Stripes books! Here's a sneak preview
You can order it here!






Thursday 8 February 2018

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




Friday 1 December 2017

'Harry Brenton - the hateful octogenarian...'

You shouldn't laugh but this newspaper clipping made me bawl! He sounds like the worst Batman villain mixed with Andy Stanton's Mr Gum so I had to draw Harry. What a cad!
(& how did they know he did it patiently?)


Wednesday 3 May 2017

Beards From Outer Space - published today!

It's BEARDAGEDDON! Beards From Outer Space the second in the Pet Defenders series by Gareth P Jones & illustrated by me is out today May 4th published by Little Tiger Press!

'The Secret Life of Pets meets The X Files - Pet Defenders are secret agents with a difference.
The humans of Nothington-on-Sea have no idea their sleepy seaside town is a hot spot for space invasions, and it's up to secret agents Biskit and Mitzy to keep it that way.
So when an army of alien beards arrive, the Pet Defenders need to act fact...If the Beard King gets his way, soon every living chin will be under his control'

For the making of this book I undertook some dangerous excursions into 'peak beard territory' by sitting in various fancy coffee shops in the badlands of Shoreditch & Dalston et al to risk life & limb by sketching various beards in their natural habitats to bring you the hirsute illustrative glory of this book. I hope you appreciate the kind of risks an illustrator like me selflessly exposes myself to on a regular basis to bring you these artworks!

 






Tuesday 11 April 2017

It's Beardageddon!

As it's #NationalPetDay I thought I'd share a preview of the second Pet Defenders book Beards from Outer Space by Gareth P Jones & illustrated by me 

'There's a new mayor of Nothington-on-Sea and the bearded, sunglass-wearing politician has attracted a whole load of fans.
Soon everyone in the town is sporting a beard - even the women!
But these are not just any beards - the Beard King is in town and he's planning to conquer the world.'

It's out on Star Wars day (May the fourth be with you! Ouch!)

(Here is a picture of me with a rather feeble excuse for a beard but I rock the sunglasses ok!)

Thursday 9 February 2017

Pet Defenders published TODAY!

Pet Defenders - Attack of the Alien Dung written by the very funny Gareth P Jones with illustrations by me is published today (9th February) by Stripes. It's the first in a brand new series in which an unlikely pairing of pets Mitzy & Biskit protect Earth from an assortment of invading aliens. 

'The planet is under attack and it’s up to Pet Defenders, Mitzy the cat and Biskit the dog, to save the world but first they are going to have to stop fighting like cat and dog long enough to do it! Secret agent Biskit is really not happy that his new partner Mitzy is a cat – everyone knows that the two don’t mix. But saving the Earth must come first when the planet is being invaded.' 


In the words of the author "It's basically Men in Black meets Dogs & Cats meets Dempsey & Makepeace with a giant space beetle made out of cowpats." which was obviously music to my ears when it came to illustrating it, giving me the chance to draw lots animals & aliens which are some of my favourite things (& drawing poo is ALWAYS fun, right kids?)

You can buy it here or if you're lucky enough to have a good local book shop go & say hello to them & buy one there. There's also a theme tune performed by the great Mr Jones which you can listen to here!




Friday 8 July 2016

Sniffer dogs, cheese, sausages & class A drugs.

This article was begging to be illustrated (no pun intended) It's from an article in The Daily Telegraph headlined ‘Manchester Airport Sniffer Dogs Find Cheese & Sausages - But No Class A Drugs’ in which they found the sniffer dogs were more interested in cheese & sausages than cocaine et al. Now, at this juncture I'm tempted to interject 'who'd have thought?' but I feel resorting to low sarcasm for comic effect is below me. 
You can read the article here

Tuesday 5 July 2016

Cat burglar (plus dog)

Another illustration for 'Burglar Trade Secrets' from Which? magazine (apparently dogs & cameras aren't too popular with the burglar community - let alone dogs WITH cameras!)

See previous 'burglar' post

Thursday 14 January 2016