Bio
Hi I'm Matty and I drew and coloured-in all the pictures on this website. I am an illustrator /author and recluse based in Cambridgeshire, England, and I have a First Class Degree in Illustration and a Masters degree in Children's Book Illustration. I like to think of myself as an illustrator first, and author second.
My first published picturebook, SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST was released in September 2015 by Oxford University Press and a follow-up book, SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST: SLUG OF DOOM, was released on September 1st 2016. Salty Dogs (think Dogtanian And The Muskehounds meets Pirates Of The Caribbean) followed in August 2017. SUPER FROZEN MAGIC FOREST, the third book in the Super Happy Magic Forest series was released in September 2018 and featured as "children's book of the week" in The Times newspaper, which was cool!
In 2020 I took my first steps into writing and illustrating young chapter books with SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST And The HUMONGOUS FUNGUS publishing in April, followed by SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST And The PORTALS OF PANIC in October. SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST And the DEEP TROUBLE followed in 2021. The heroes ventured into the DISTANT DESERT in early 2023. And in-between all that TURBO BUNNIES - a picturebook about rival rabbit racers - was published. It will be part of the Book Trust Summer Reading Challenge in 2023.
In February 2023 my picturebook (and tenth book overall) WHO ATE ALL THE BUGS? was published. It mashes fiction, non-fiction, and activity books together in a story about garden survival. It was followed in 2024 by WHO RULES THE ROCKPOOL?
My new chapterbook series CROAKY launched in 2024, with the first of the six-book series CROAKY: SEARCH FOR THE SASQUATCH. It was followed later in the year by CROAKY: QUEST FOR THE LEGENDARY BERRY. The books are about a young, overly-enthusiastic and adventurous frog going on exciting (and sometimes perilous) expeditions with his two pals Winston and Sheena. CROAKY: CAVERNS OF THE GEMOSAURUS, the third book in the series, published in March 2025.
2024 also saw the release of the SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST TV show on BBC and BBC iPlayer, developed by Tiger Aspect. I was a creative consultant on the show and heavily involved in all aspects of production, from providing feedback on scripts to contributing artwork and much more in-between.
My favourite things are robots, video games and ketchup.
Clients
Oxford University Press, Usborne, NewCon Press, Blackie Books, Time Out, Cambridgeshire Libraries, Best Publishing Ever, Heffers Bookshop, NHS Foundation Trust
Awards
Winner of the Shropshire Bookfest Picturebook Award 2024 (WHO ATE ALL THE BUGS?)
Winner of The Sheffield Children's Book Award Emerging Reads category winner and Overall Winner 2021(SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST AND THE HUMONGOUS FUNGUS)
Winner of the Hillingdon Picturebook of the Year 2017 (SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST: SLUG OF DOOM).
Winner of the Cambridgeshire Libraries' Read It Again! Award 2016. (SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST).
Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2016 (SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST).
Longlisted for the inaugural Klaus Flugge Prize 2016 (SUPER HAPPY MAGIC FOREST).
Highly commended in the Macmillan Prize for Children's Book Illustration 2010.
Featured in the Association of Illustrator's Images 34: The Best of British Illustration annual in 2010 and the subsequent tour of the UK.
All 150cc gold trophies in Mario Kart 8
