Frances McKay Illustration

Hack and Whack

I love Norse mythology, Icelandic sagas, and am fascinated by all things Viking, so it’s been a joy for me to write my first picture book featuring the worst Viking children…ever.

Hack and Whack are the terrible twins terrorizing their village, and I’ve loved imagining a Viking world where children are told off for sword-fighting on the table, but essentially run wild. All the normal constrictions of modern kids are brushed aside—these are Vikings.  They fight, they steal, they’re bold and they’re rude.  Children need a safe outlet for their emotions and aggressive feelings—what better way to explore their riotous natures than through literature?

 

was delighted when Faber’s Leah Thaxton suggested Charlotte Cotterill to illustrate, as I needed an artist with a wild sense of humour, and Charlotte has brilliantly captured all the antic fun of this book.  Long may Hack and Whack be on the attack.

 

Francesca Simon 

Hack and Whack was published by Faber and Faber on 5th October 2017.

 

 

Splendid Silliness: Elys Dolan's Knighthood for Beginners

Daily Mail, Best Summer Books
“Better known for her picture books, this first foray into young fiction by Elys Dolan is a laugh-out loud triumph. With plenty of wildly imaginative black-and-white illustrations, this is the perfect step up from picture books.”

Mail on Sunday, Best Summer Books
“This laugh-out-loud delight for young children is about Dave, the dragon who wants to become a knight.”

The Sunday Times, Children’s Book of the Week
“The inventive, zany text and captioned pictures are laugh-out-loud funny, and if you are not amused then, as Albrecht would say, you are probably a ‘dummkopf’.”

The Guardian, Children’s Book Round Up

“Full of splendid silliness, Elys Dolan’s Knighthood for Beginners will have readers cackling from start to finish. A highly illustrated hoot, full of outrageous medieval mash ups.”

The Financial Times

“Elys Dolan, who illustrates as well as she writes, seems to know just what tickles a kid’s funny bone, while imparting the message to be yourself, no matter what.”

The Press Association (syndicated in over twenty regional newspapers)
“Author and illustrator Elys Dolan (Steven Seagull Action Hero) has penned her first young fiction book –an epic David vs Goliath tale, that’s sure to treat the imagination and tickle the funny bones of all young readers. At its heart, it’s a story of friendship, finding your strengths and the love of books.”

The Guardian, Independent Bookshop Week
“Full of quirky detail and laugh out loud pictures.”

The Bookseller, “One to Watch"
“One of my favourite picture book creators (I’ve read Weasels and Nuts in Space aloud hundreds of times and they’re still funny) now turns her genius to young fiction with great aplomb. Both words and pictures zing with her distinctive bonkers humour; children will adore the slapstick silliness and there are crossover jokes aplenty for their parents.”

 

The Booktrust
“This book will make a fabulous first chapter book for a child to read alone. It is also a real laugh to read out loud, particularly the words spoken by Dave’s ‘trusty steed’ Albrecht.”

LoveReading4Kids
“In a nutshell: hilarious courtly adventure from one of our funniest, most inventive writer-illustrators. There’s something funny on each page either in the text or illustrations and this will have every reader laughing. Underneath the humour is a lovely message about being true to yourself.”

Books For Keeps
“Readers will love the fact that this hero is a dragon hooked on books. They will love his dedication to his quest. Most of all, they will love that he is called Dave.”

Parents in Touch
"A laugh-aloud book for newly confident readers, or for sharing aloud, this will have kids in fits of giggles - guaranteed!"

 

Frances McKay Illustration

"Champion!"

 

Ludwig the Space Dog, Launched!

My new book, "Ludwig the Space Dog", is out! After having illustrated 40 books so far, this is the first book I've written myself. It's about Ludwig, a dog who lives with his friends in the two dimensional world of books. 

But he has read so much about the world and the universe, that his big dream is to fly into space, and to discover another dimension.

And one day, a visitor from another dimension pays an unexpected visit...

Well you will have to read the book to see if his dream comes true...All Ludwig's dreams and the other worlds he wants to discover are in 3D and can be seen with the enclosed space goggles. It was a very interesting process to learn to produce 3D imagery, and I still love putting the glasses on and off, now you see it (in 3D), now you don't. 

The book is published by Templar, who are known for doing well designed and produced books, so I was very happy when I got my printed copy the other day.

 

 

I have created some cut out figures, which will be part of some shop window displays, and who will all be there for the Bristol launch on Friday 30th sept from 6pm to 9pm, and Saturday 1.oct from 12pm to 4pm, at Centrespace, 6, Leonard Lane, Bristol, BS1 1EA. Come if you can.

 

Let your dreams lead your life, let your dreams come true!

Henning Löhlein

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Doughnut of Doom: A Food Town Tour

My new book, The doughnut of Doom, is out now! But what is it about? Well, it's another ordinary day in Food Town and Nancy McNutty, peanut butter sandwich and rookie reporter, desperately needs a big break. So, when news comes in of a monster doughnut on the rampage, she's straight on the case - she knew there was something dodgy about the superfoods down at Lemon Labs! And boy, is that doughnut hungry! It's EATING everything in sight and not even the police, the fire chiefs OR the military can bring it down. Whatever will President Bacon do?

If you want to find out how they defeat the doughnut you’ll have to read the book but today I’m going to take you on a tour of Food Town, pre doughnut destruction of course.

First stop on our tour is The Peanut Press, Food Town’s premier newspaper and the workplace of intrepid reporter Nancy McNutty. It’s editor is chief is Big Cheese who’s rumoured to be a pretty awful boss.

Next stop is Micro Tan. This is the place to go if you want to looked sun-kissed for the summer, but be careful not to overdo it.

If you want some classier entertainment you might be better off visiting the Food Town Theatre. Here they put on highbrow productions such as Ham-Let and A Midsummers Ice Cream.

If night life is what you’re after then the best place to go is the Chocolate Bar. With DJ Mushroom in residence the best nights out are always found here but be careful of the Allsorts, they’re wild.

Stylist Andy Floss will give you an all new look.

Want to see some local landmarks? By far the most famous is the Empire Steak Building which offers panoramic views of Food Town, That’s when it’s not occupied by a giant monster doughnut, of course.

Many tourists visit the Food Town park to see the iconic statue of local hero General Gauda, who distinguished himself in the Cheese Board wars of 1883.

And finally it’s worth stopping by City Hall to see if you can catch a glimpse of President Bacon, now in his second term. He’s always around for a photo op.

 

The Doughnut of Doom by Elys Dolan is published by Nosy Crow.

You can find out more about Elys and her work at elysdolan.com and elysdolan.tumblr.com or follow her on twitter and Facebook at @ElysDolan and facebook.com/elysdolanillustration.

 

Ludwig the space dog

 

Ludwig the Space Dog is Henning’s

3rd children’s book published in the UK, the

2nd book published by Templar, after „Fish food“ (by Andy Mansfield), which won the  Sheffield Children’s Book Prize 2014, Baby Book category, the

1st book written (and illustrated) by Henning Löhlein...

...blast off!!!

 

Ludwig is a dog, who lives in a flat world of books. He loves to read and play with his friends. Ludwig is a curious dog and every night he dreams about flying past cheese moons and sausage planets. He has read everything there is to know about flying, space and the universe. He dreams of discovering another world. Will his dream become true? An adventure in another dimension, with 3D goggles.

On every page there are 3dimensional elements, which become more and more numerous until the end of the book when Ludwig flies in space, the whole universe can be seen in 3D.  Children know 3D films from the cinema, but having a 3D book illustrates very well that the illusion is happening in their head.

I had great fun making this book, and working out how to do the 3D elements. It has already sold co edition rights to Germany, France and Italy, and the follow up book has been commissioned by Templar. So get ready, Ludwig the Space Dog will launch on the 9th September. There will be a launch party in Bristol  at Centrespace Gallery (BS11EA)  Friday 30.9.2016 from 6pm – 9pm, and Saturday 1.10.2016 from 12 to 4pm. Come along for an experience from another dimension, and fun for the whole family.

 

 

Henning Löhlein

 

Introducing Charlotte Cotterill

Frances McKay Illustration is delighted to announce that Charlotte Cotterill, a new graduate with an MA and a merit in Children’s Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art, is joining the agency from June 2016.

Charlotte says; ‘In 2011 I began my degree in Illustration with Animation at Manchester Metropolitan University and I graduated with a first class honours in 2014. I love making picture books and have worked on 4 stories that I have written myself in the last 2 years as part of my university courses. I am inspired by my own experiences and my observations of the world around me.

I create images using coloured pencil and then add washes in watercolour and ink. Recently, I have also been developing artwork created in lino print, I print using black oil based ink and then add colour digitally in Photoshop.

I also have an interest in freelance illustration and have created work that has been displayed in Manchester Central Library as part of a competition from Manchester City Transport in 2014. I completed a two week work placement with Hallmark Cards in July 2015, and I designed an image to feature as the cover illustration for the March 2016 ‘Cambridge Edition’ magazine.

I grew up in Nottinghamshire with my family and a love of reading, drawing and playing the clarinet. I live and work in Cambridge.’

 

Charlotte's website: Charlotte Cotterill.co.uk

Shakespeare Day

To help celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death The Guardian published my 'How to make a dip pen' in XI acts. It appears in the Children's book section on their site and adds to their burgeoning 'How to' range which is always worth checking out each week to see what's new.

These "How to's" are usually linked to exciting new children's books, and these quill based inkings of mine are linked to the marvelous new story by Tony Bradman 'The Boy and the Globe'. You can see some of the illustrations from the book and photo's of Tony and me on tour (I'm even wearing my favourite dress) in this blog. Published by Barrington Stoke 'The Boy and the Globe' is a corking read celebrating Shakespeare's London, his life and his playwriting woes and all told through the adventures of an orphan, Toby, who gets embroiled in pickpocketing, meets Shakespeare and ends up inspiring him. It really is a terrific read and a great introduction to Shakespeare's world for readers ages 7-10. I was chuffed to be asked to work with Tony on this. 

 

At the back of the book are 'Funne Activities for Boyes and Girls' including a make your own 'players', to add to the fun you can download and make your own globe and there's a mini Tempest script too. To encourage such behaviour this blog by Barrington stoke even includes a little vid of me scratching away.   

 

Here are the first Guardian acts up until the interval, you can see the whole 'How to' on the Guardian site here. They even sell the book at a discount if you were to be conceivably interested in such things. 

 

 

 

I was in my inky element with these 'How to' illustrations, which included dedicated research of spilling my ink everywhere. I hope you enjoy the inky mess, at least as much as I enjoyed myself  when I made it, and that you get a chance to get inky yourself!

 

 

Tom Morgan-Jones

 

 

 

 

 

Steven Seagull Action Hero

My new book, Steven Seagull Action Hero, is published today!

It’s about Steven, a retired police detective, who’s called back into action for one last case when someone starts stealing sand from Beach City and leaving massive holes.

On the way to solving the mystery Steven and his ex-partner Mac (who’s a goldfish) question various suspects including Lola the Lifeguard (Hippo), Ice Cream Harry (ice cream van owning rat) and Rick the volleyball referee (great white shark).

As a FMI exclusive I’ve put together a mini-comic introducing Steven and some of Beach City’s criminal underworld:

Steven Seagull Action Hero by Elys Dolan is published by Oxford University Press. You can find out more about Elys and her work at elysdolan.com and elysdolan.tumblr.com or follow her on twitter and Facebook at @ElysDolan and facebook.com/elysdolanillustration.