Hastings Book Festival 2025

 

I was really happy to be invited back to my hometown for the Hastings Book Festival where I did some live drawing, illustration chat & conducted draw-alongs for the kids (& their grown ups) 

I demonstrated how cats eats pizza from pizza trees & showed everybody how to draw Professor Poo & Ploppy from Poo Crew Adventures - Journey to Pootopia my graphic novel with James Turner. I also got to sign some books & chat to a few folk afterwards which is always really pleasurable & rewarding!

Thanks to everyone who made me so welcome, wishing Hasting Book Festival the very best - I want to come back next year!

St Austell Festival of Childrens Literature.

I had a wonderful couple of days down in Cornwall at the St Austell Festival of Childrens Literature. 

On Friday I visited Newquay Junior Academy where the kids & staff gave me a lovely welcome (& I also met their lovely school dog Nelly!)

(my drawing of Nelly the dog, a talking cat, a seagull with its bag of chips & a dog eating a sausage)

During the event I talked to the kids about how I became an illustrator (via roadying for bands among other things!)  & introduced our graphic novel Poo Crew Adventures: Journey to Poo-topia, a fast-paced adventure, which brings together clever, funny storytelling with lots of amazing facts and taps into kids’ fascination with all things poo-related & I PROVED that poo is THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECT IN THE WORLD!

We also had a game of ‘Poo or True?’

A draw-a-long of the book’s protagonist Ploppy with some great drawings from the kids!

I also gave a behind the scenes look at what goes into illustrating a narrative non-fiction graphic novel, answered some great questions from the children & signed LOTS of books.

On Saturday I took part in The Big Draw Off - A Graphic Novel Showdown Like No Other! with author illustrator Steve Webb which was brilliantly compered by JoJo Silva from Capital Xtra.

We both talked about our work & then were set various drawing challenges getting prompts from audience members & also creating characters based on audience members with hilarious results - a really fun interactive event (& not often you get to shout 'poo!' in a church!)

Big thanks to everyone involved to make it such a brilliant festival! I hope I'll get invited back!

If you'd like me to visit your school or your festival please contact me on info@stevemay,biz

 (in training for The Big Draw Off)

(A pictorial Steve (May) & Steve (Webb) in the beautiful Holy Trinity Church, St Austell)

(The two Steves & JoJo our compère)

World Book Day 2025 at Dallington School

Had a lovely day talking about books, drawing, reading with the kids from Dallington Primary School in Clerkenwell for World Book Day this year! I kicked things off with a whole-school assembly, sharing insights into the world of illustration while the kids challenged me to draw various animals & foodstuffs including a cat eating fishfingers & a capybara eating chocolate (never drawn one before, I was fairly pleased!)

I then conducted draw-alongs with all the classes who drew some great pics from our graphic novel Journey to Pootopia (one pupil also drew a rather brilliant portrait of me too!)

I always love the energy from primary school visits, if you'd like me to come & visit your school please get in touch info@stevemay.biz

A capybara eating chocolate

Some of the pupils' drawings

(a rather wonderful portrait of me drawn by one of the children! : )

 

How To Draw Professor Poo & Ploppy from Journey To Pootopia

I'm going to show you how to draw Professor Poo & Ploppy from the new hilarious graphic novel for kids Poo Crew Adventures - Journey To Pootopia by James Turner & me! Join Ploppy and his fearless guide, Professor Poo, as they boldly venture into the Secret Intestines of the Universe to discover answers to the most important Digestion Questions … Why do we chew? Why do we fart? Why do cows have so many stomachs? And … what will happen to Ploppy AFTER he’s been flushed?! If you’ve ever used the toilet, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU! https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/journey-to-poo-topia-poo-crew-adventures-james-turner?variant=40642344190030

Mr Dilly Presents - Journey To Pootopia

James Turner & me got to be among one of the 'Magnificent 7' authors for a Mr Dilly Presents event on the 12th September which went out to schools from Canada, Nigeria and the Baleareic Islands! 3,000 kids tuned in during the live show!

Along with authors Swapna Haddow, Anna Fargher, Justin Somper, Lucy Strange & Lisa Williams We got to talk about our new book Journey To Pootopia & some of our influences & favourite childhood books too. I also got to do a Professor Poo drawalong for 3000 kids (& managed a few doodles too!)

You can watch again here

 

'Better Than Batman. Steve May.'

(Illustration from 'Supernan's Day Out' by Phil Earle pub Barrington Stoke)

Is this is the BEST HEADLINE EVER?!?! : )

Thanks so much to LoveReading4Kids for featuring me in their Illustrators Spotlight this month where I describe what '4 year old me' might think of 'fifty something year old me's' life choices, influences & the essential mischief of being an illustrator, including drawing poo for a living for my new graphic novel with James Turner Poo Crew Adventures - Journey to Pootopia

https://tinyurl.com/4bfm4wt4

 

Poo Crew Adventures - Welcome to Pootopia!

Very excited to receive my first copies of Poo Crew Adventures by James Turner & me! Mixing the educational, the anarchic & the downright disgusting this is a really funny fast paced graphic novel for kids published by HarperCollins Children's Books UK - if you’ve EVER had a poo this book’s for you!

‘Fart-out-loud hilarious … I loved every disgusting second of it!’ – Jamie Smart, creator of Bunny Vs Monkey

In an ordinary toilet, on an ordinary day, a small poo called Ploppy lands with a splash. Just an ordinary poo about to be flushed …

But Ploppy is anything but ordinary. He’s a TALKING POO! And he’s about to go on the mission of a lifetime …

Join Ploppy and his fearless guide, Professor Poo, as they boldly venture into the Secret Intestines of the Universe to discover answers to the most important Digestion Questions … Why do we chew? Why do we fart? Why do cows have so many stomachs? And … what will happen to Ploppy AFTER he’s been flushed?!

If you’ve ever used the toilet, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!

You can pre-order it here

COVER REVEAL! 'Poo Crew Adventures: Journey to Poo-topia'

  

If you’ve ever used the toilet, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!

After my initial ‘you want me to draw a book about WHAT!?!?’ reaction I thoroughly enjoyed bringing the anarchic  & educational together in this absolute romp of a book. 

James’ text has been a laugh out loud joy to illustrate & I now know more about various digestion systems - humans to wombats & beyond - than I ever thought possible! 

This is being published in August by Farshore Books.

"Join small poo Ploppy and his fearless guide, Professor Poo, on a bold venture into the Secret Intestines of the Universe to discover answers to the most important Digestion Questions in Poo Crew Adventures: Journey to Poo-topia .

From creative POO-werhouse James Turner & Steve May, this brand-new graphic novel is FLUSH with facts about the human body and digestion."

Pre-order today: https://lnkfi.re/vuwLXT