Publication Day for Two Terrible Vikings - Feast With The King

It's publication day for the THIRD in the Two Terrible Vikings series 'Feast With The King'  

As ever I loved working with the brilliant 'Queen of Comedy' Francesca Simon who imbues these books with so much energy & humour!

Published by Faber Childrens

Three fantastic new stories!

Hack and Whack babysit a toddler – Fire Hazard – and discover to their horror that they might not be the worst vikings in the village after all . . .

Then they manage to secure an exciting invite to feast with the visiting king, but discover that it’s three days of having to be on their best behaviour . . . Until the new teenaged king turns out to be a lout – food fights ensue, and he loves them.

Unfortunately, that’s when the snotty, privileged, wealthy winter guests turn up – distant cousins who can’t be turned away. They make everyone’s life a misery – can Hack and Whack find a way to get rid of them?

Packed full of humour that children will love and illustrated with anarchy by the fabulous Steve May.

 

Grunt The Beserker - behind the scenes...

 I was just searching through some old files & found some of my preliminary sketches for Two Terrible Vikings & Grunt The Beserker my second collaboration with the brilliant Francesca Simon which I thought some of you might be interested in seeing the process around creating the cover

This was my very first version which I cleaned up a bit...

...to this which went over to the people at Faber - we all thought it looked a bit too scary so I gave it another go & rejigged the format to make it a bit clearer

I decided it would be less cluttered if Hack & Wack were separate from the terrible Grunt Ironskull so I doodled this in the back of my sketchbook...

...which turned into this...

It was thought that this version was too similar in colour to the first book so I decided to create a more brooding sky which I think works much better on the final book cover (see above)

For the back cover we'd decided to show Hack & Wack's pet wolf Bitey Bitey being menaced by Grunt's hound Muddy Butt - I drew a couple of versions - I rather liked the front on version but the final version works better with the text

Here's the final version...

Draw Along 'Dirty Ulf' from Two Terrible Vikings

Here's me showing you how to draw Dirty Ulf, the grubbiest Viking in the village from the second Two Terrible Vikings book Grunt the Beserker by Francesca Simon & me published by Faber & Faber you can order a copy here!

More draw-alongs here

Publication Day For 'Two Terrible Vikings' - 'Grunt The Beserker'

 "The world’s very worst Vikings are back to dash our hopes and fail our expectations!"

I'm extremely pleased to say that Hack & Wack, the WORST Vikings in the village are back in the second of the Two Terrible Vikings series Grunt The Beserker which is published TODAY - 3rd February by Faber Childrens!

In the new book the twins are forced to attend school & EVEN WORSE a fierce & stinky beserker warrior moves in NEXT DOOR!

How will the twins & their friends outwit Grunt & his vicious dog Muddy Butt?!?!

This is my second collaboration with the brilliantly funny Francesca Simon & was an absolute riot to return to draw the terrible Viking twins Hack & Wack along with their friends Dirty Ulf, Twisty Pants, Elsa Gold-Hair & of course Bitey Bitey their pet baby wolf!
In this new book I also got to draw the terrible (& rather stinky) Grunt The Beserker, his huge vicious dog Muddy Butt, Pecky Pecky the fiercest chicken in the Viking world & a plethora of angry puffins too! 

I frequently found myself laughing out loud when realising Francesca's hilarious text which is always a VERY GOOD THING!

Pop into your nearest independent bookshop & say hello or you can order a copy from here

Grunt The Beserker - cover reveal!

 Me pulling my BEST beserker face after receiving my copies of the new Two Terrible Vikings book 'Grunt The Beserker' by Francesca Simon & me! There's NOTHING quite as exciting as seeing an ACTUAL PRINTED COPY!

It's a very funny book, Francesca has such a brilliant imagination & turn of phrase  - I found myself laughing out loud at various things I was drawing which is always a good sign (even if my studio mates think I'm going mad occasionally!

All the old gang are back, Hack & Wack the terrible viking twins, their baby wolf Bitey Bitey, Dirty Ulf, Twisty Pants, Elsa Goldhair & some brilliant new characters! I'll reveal more soon, watch this space...

You can preorder a copy here

Two Terrible Vikings!

It was rather exciting to receive the proof of 'Two Terrible Vikings' my collaboration with the brilliant Francesca Simon which is due to be published in February 2021 by Faber Children's.

I'm extremely excited about these books, they were a real joy to draw & prompted many laugh out loud moments while I was working which is always a great sign.
I've become rather fond of the terrible Viking twins Hack & Wack, along with Bitey Bitey their pet wolf cub & their other friends & can't wait to be able to share more with you all!

(& yes, I'm afraid aesthetics won over historic accuracy in regard to the horns on the helmets - my fault! ; )

New Viking series with Francesca Simon!

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be teaming up with best-selling 'Horrid Henry' author Francesca Simon for a new series for Faber & Faber which "features a marauding band of terrible Vikings, led by terror twins Hack and Whack, who are adored by their parents for being the worst Vikings in the village" 

I'm very excited to be working with Francesca, I've already caught myself laughing out loud at the text which is ALWAYS the best sign and I'm relishing the chance of bringing Hack and Whack's terrible exploits to life. (Getting to draw a baby wolf called Bitey Bitey is also a magnificent bonus too!)

Here's a link the the article at The Bookseller

Matt Millz On Tour by Harry Hill - published today!

Matt Millz on Tour! the 3rd in the hilarious series by Harry Hill & illustrated by me is out today  (Thursday October 17th) published by Faber & Faber This time Matt is taking his act to the Edinburgh Festival! You can order it here!

Matt’s dream of becoming a stand-up comic is fading. Six months on from his success at the Apollo, the gigs have dried up, and it’s back to the daily drudge of schoolwork for Matt and his pals. But then his twelve-year-old manager Kitty has a brainwave: if they can persuade their teachers to take a school play up to the Edinburgh Festival, they could hold a comedy night too.

But Matt’s got a rival new school-mate Jamie who is pushing to be in the comedy line-up. And Jamie is good. But is he too good to be true?

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

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

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!

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