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

Grunt the Beserker...sneak preview

 Psst...here's a glimpse of the brilliant bookmarks to go with the publication of the SECOND Two Terrible Vikings books - 'Grunt the Beserker' written by the brilliant Francesca Simon & illustrated by me. 

(If you look closer you can get a sneak peak of the cover of the book which is published on Thursday 3rd February by Faber Childrens)

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