Happy Thor's Day!

 From the REAL Thunder Cat!

Buck 'n' Bronco Hit The Road - Publication day!

 YEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAA! My latest collaboration with the brilliant Guy Bass Buck 'n' Bronco Hit The Road is published today - April the 1st by the wonderful folk at Barrington Stoke & it's no joke  - this is a fib, it's FULL of jokes (& the odd farting horse too shhh! What a riot this was to draw - 'BRING THE HAPPY!' (™) You can order it here

Buck 'n' Bronco are mascots at the Happy Ranch theme park.

It's their mission to Bring the Happy (TM) to your day!But when Happy Ranch is demolished to make way for a futuristic new park, Buck 'n' Bronco find themselves without a home and without a job.

They head out on the road, determined to prove they've still got what it takes. Can Buck 'n' Bronco Bring the Happy (TM) out in the real world, or are they doomed to be yesterday's mascots?

'This story really is the most tremendous fun. Packed full of laughs and with some wonderful toilet humour, it will be a sure-fire hit with younger readers – and their adults.'  - Jacqui Sydney 

'With heartwarming themes of friendship, mutual support, shared adversity and the importance of being prepared to embrace change, Bass and May’s inspirational and anarchic comedy hits the spot perfectly for readers young… and not-so-young!'  (Pam Norfolk - Lancashire Post)

(I told you there were farting horses!)

Happy St David's Day!

Here's a little Welsh dragon for all you ALL you dragonophiles* as it's Saint David's Day. (no, he didn't fight a dragon, that was George, keep up!)

In my opinion, any country that's an official** unit of scale AND has a dragon on it's flag is pretty cool by me! *Not strictly a word.

**Might be a bit of a fib too.
 

How to draw Bitey Bitey the baby wolf!

Here's a video I did for the Booktrust where you can see how I draw Bitey Bitey the baby wolf who belongs to Hack & Wack the 'Two Terrible Vikings' from the new book by best selling author Francesca Simon & me! Hope you enjoy it & no biting! 

You can order SIGNED copies for the nice people at Daunts here

 

Drawalong-a-Viking!

 If you're feeling particularly Viking-esque here's a video of me drawing Hack & Wack the Viking twins from my new collaboration with author Francesca Simon 'Two Terrible Vikings' which is available now!

You can also get some more draw-along action from the Book Trust where I'm showing you how to draw Bitey Bitey, the twins' pet baby wolf! Click here

You can even get a SIGNED copy from Daunts bookshop here

Two Terrible Vikings - PUBLICATION DAY!

I'm very excited to announce that my first collaboration with the brilliant Francesca Simon (bestselling author of Horrid Henry among many other things!) Two Terrible Vikings is published today 4th February 2021 by Faber.

It follows the exploits of the terrible twins, Hack and Whack, who are PROUD to be the best worst vikings. Along with the wonderfully named Bitey Bitey the baby wolf nothing stops the marauding pair as they steal boats, loot a birthday party, track a troll and sail off to raid Bad Island with their friends Twisty Pants and Dirty Ulf.

Well, almost nothing... 

I've always had a soft spot for all things Viking & a spot of Norse mythology so this felt right up my street (fjord maybe?) you *might* just spot Hugin & Munin, Odin's ravens lurking throughout the book & I found myself looking at Runic script to see how a Viking might have written 'No Spitting' - nothing like doing your research eh?

I found myself regularly laughing out loud as I drew this which is testament to the brilliance of Francesca's prose. The book just romps along & especially as a formerly rather timid kid I immediately wanted to be in Hack & Wack's gang! Particular favourites were Bitey Bitey the twins' pet wolf & their friend Dirty Ulf - I had a ball drawing this book & hope it shows.

 
The majority of the book was drawn on my kitchen table during the first lockdown in Spring 2020 which was mainly a horrible, difficult time for me but I felt like I could live vicariously through the twins' joyous anarchic spirit which was a wonderful tonic.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed drawing it.

Anyway don't take MY word for it, here's a couple of nice reviews

“As joyously anarchic as Horrid Henry himself, these two little boy and girl Vikings will have your children laughing out loud.”

- CRESSIDA COWELL

“Viking twins Hack and Whack make me thank Thor and Odin and the whole Norse pantheon that I don't have to play with them in real life! A treat for kids who wonder what could happen if they broke every possible rule, but so ridiculous that they'll forget to try because they're laughing too hard. Steve May's illustrations burst with wild energy; I genuinely guffawed at his drawing of a pin-the-tail-on-the-ogre game. A wonderfully absurd, anarchic romp.”

- SARAH MCINTYRE

 

Trump issuing pardons on Zoom this morning...

Listening to Radio 4 this morning hearing about Trump's last day in office I sketched this on my kitchen table this morning & figured I'd colour it in. I like a bit of colouring in! Here's before & after for your edification...