Puppy Love, Kitten Kaboodle etc

It's been a huge amount of fun illustrating these books written by Anna Wilson, for Macmillan publishers.

This is how it works: the publishers send me Anna Wilson's manuscript, I draw roughs, and send them back. Actually, my roughs tend to be not that rough, so often they are the final picture too. The publishers check with Anna Wilson that she's happy with the roughs. I like this bit, because I get emails back, saying things like, "OOOh, he's so Cuuuuute!" or, "Fabaroony!!!!" Yes, Anna Wilson really does write emails the same way she writes stories.

If you don't believe me, check out the author's website on www.annawilson.co.uk. Warning: it's rather full of cats and dogs.

As you'll have guessed, the covers haven't been that much work for me (the publishers do all the designing), but a lot of love has gone into the insides. The Puppy Love books in particular are packed with illustrations.

You can read reviews of these books here.

School and book festival visits

I frequently give talks or workshops in schools or at book festivals, based around illustrating these books and cartoon drawing in general.

And then, there's the double act: We live at opposite ends of the UK, so it's a rare event when we meet up for some joint sessions. But when we do... two "utter nutters" and a crowd of kids acting like monkeys: it's hard to beat.

Anna Wilson, author of Puppy Love, Kitten Smitten etc, with Moira Munro and the amazing kids of St Teresa's Primary