David O'Connell | Author & Illustrator

Happy publication day to BEASTIE BROS: THE CURSE OF CAPTAIN SLUGBEARD! 🐌 In the third book in the series, Dribble and Dash and their pals take a trip to Bogbrush-on-Sea to collect seaweed for Cool Nat's seaweed smoothies. Whilst on the beach they uncover the hidden treasure of Captain Slugbeard, a villainous pirate and his mean crew. Will the pair escape his clutches, or will they all meet their doom in the jaws of Big Steve, the fishy terror of the deep? I had so much fun making this book! It's full of funny stuff, as well as facts and activities at the back. Thank you to editor Julia Sanderson, designer @sarahbaldwyn and everyone at @scholastic_uk for making this series such a pleasure to work on. Buying link in bio! 🐌

Happy publication day to the Beastie Bros on their second adventure! Beastie Bros: Dungeons and Dragonflies! 🪱🪰🦟🪳🦗🐞🪲🐝🐛🦋🐜🐌 Dribble and Dash take a tour of the local ant hill but get lost inside the endless tunnels, some of which haven't been explored for centuries! Encountering monsters, jewel thieves, and forgotten underground kingdoms, the bros wonder if they'll ever get back home again. But help comes in all kinds of unlikely ways, including a little bit of 'magic'! 🪱🪰🦟🪳🦗🐞🪲🐝🐛🦋🐜🐌 I loved making this book so much! It's filled with all kind of fun and nonsense, and packed with drawings, as well as lots of extras at the end (btw, there's a downloadable activity pack from my activity library - see my bio links). Huge thanks to editor Julia Sanderson, fab designer @sarahbaldwyn and everyone at @scholastic_uk for making it such a brilliant experience. Hurray for books! 🪱🪰🦟🪳🦗🐞🪲🐝🐛🦋🐜🐌

BEASTIE BROS is out today! It feels like a long time coming! My first author-illustrated book came out exactly twelve years ago - the first book I had published - and I've learned so much about story-making and illustration since then. I've tried to put all that I've learned into Beastie Bros, along with my love of funny stories and comics, squishing it all together into something that's absorbing, informative, entertaining and engaging, and visually dynamic too. @scholastic_uk have been so supportive and encouraging of my ideas right from the start, and have worked so hard to get the book seen by as many people as possible. Special thanks to them, particularly brilliant editor Julia Sanderson and the fab designer @sarahbaldwyn for allowing me to go a bit off-piste with the book format. Activity pack available from the Activity Library link in my bio. **Book 2 is on its way this summer!** 🐌🐜🦋🐞🐝🦗

BEASTIE BROS has made it to the shortlist of the Alligator's Mouth Award! 🎉 Thank you so much to the judges for letting my little book get so far, and to @alligatorsmouth for having an award that recognises illustrated fiction. And, of course, thanks to the folk at @scholastic_uk for making it all happen. I'm delighted to see the bros among some top-notch books, and some pals among the authors too. Looking forward to the awards party in June! 🎉

I took a trip to a roasting north London for the launch of the brilliant @laura_ellen_anderson 's new series STAR KITTIES last night, hosted by @waterstonesfinchleyrdo2 . I can only apologise for the photos – thanks to the intense sunshine there are a lot of squinty, shiny people, but it was a lovely event including a rhyming thank you speech! Also, you got a bird's-eye view of the tube trains coming in and out of Finchley Road station, which I could watch all day. *Star Kitties – Detective Kitty on the Case* is everything you'd expect from Laura – funny, delightful characters, fantastical settings, beautiful, huggable illustrations, and rib-tickling punnage – all in one star-spangled, pink and teal package. Purrrfect (yikes!) for young readers just starting to read independently. STAR KITTIES is out on May 7th from @farshorebooks .

I've had to resort to a load of pinched pictures for my post about my fab weekend with the Beastie Bros at @cdfkidslitfest – unusual for me! Cardiff was totally buzzing when I arrived on Saturday evening, thanks to the glorious weather and Cardiff City's 5-1 victory against Nottingham. The whole city was in such a good mood. I had a very tasty dinner with fellow authors @cowfishdreams (of Koalas in Capes fame) and @corderoyt , and organisers Helen and Heather – so good to catch up with Terrie, and lovely to meet Tracey for the first time. On Sunday morning I met up with local illustrator friends @elissaelwick and @jolindleydraws for a coffee and Elissa's daughter Eira joined us too for a bit of drawing. I wish I could have stayed and chatted for longer! I then popped along to the festival venue at stunning Cardiff castle just in time to catch Terrie's Koalas event. The kids loved dressing up as superheroes – it was an absolute hoot! Then it my turn with the Bros. There were some brilliant story ideas and drawing from the audience, and some great questions too. I'm always impressed by the imaginations (and sense of humour) of my readers and I'm so glad I get to meet them in person. Thank you to the wonderful team at @cdfkidslitfest for their meticulous and friendly organisation, and to @chepstowbooks for managing the book sales, as well as publicist Rosie Watts at @scholastic_uk for getting this disorganised author's butt on the right train. Hooray for books!

Book your tickets to see David O’Connell at the Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival next week! 🐛 Sunday 26th April Book here: /events/the-beastie-boys-and-the-curse-of-captain-slugbeard-with-david-oconnell/ Come join author David O’Connell for an interactive event filled with plenty of comic-style art draw-alongs and bug-tactic facts. Expect a laugh-out-loud session, packed with hilarious characters you don’t want to miss! Local bookshop Chepstow Books will be selling David’s Beastie Bros series and David will be singing afterwards.

Happy publication day to HERCULES vs THE MINOTAUR! This book must have spent some time in the tanning salon because it is well and truly BRONZED (thanks to fabulous designer @sarahbaldwyn !). Another excellent tome in the Hercules series by @tomvaughan_88 . It's always a pleasure to illustrate a book with proper laughs in it, and this is definitely one of those. Here's the blurb: Hercules Braver, modern-day son of Zeus, is about to face his BIGGEST challenge yet… A legendary Greek monster has escaped from the underworld! Hercules is ready to start a new school year as the BEST demigod when, to his surprise, his cousin Theseus suddenly comes to stay from Greece. Theseus, son of Poseidon, is a young demigod just like Hercules. But right as Herc was (finally) preparing to be a heroically good role model, infuriating Theseus causes TROUBLE at every turn! But soon the boys are forced to work together – because Zeus has been so focused on writing a book that he’s lost control of the cosmos… and now the universe is in jeopardy. One of the most terrifying monsters in Greek myth has hatched an escape from the underworld! With their dads pre-occupied, it’s up to Herc and Theo to track down and stop the Minotaur. No doubt about it, this is Herc’s most high-stakes adventure yet. Will the boys become monster-slaying heroes like their namesakes? Or will they learn that myths might not have the full story? HERCULES vs THE MINOTAUR is out today from @scholastic_uk .

How brilliant to discover that the Beastie Bros are on the longlist for the Alligator's Mouth Award! 🎺🎉 Run by the excellent @alligatorsmouth bookshop, the award recognises highly-illustrated children's fiction. Lots of great books on the list, including several favourites of mine. Thank you so much, @alligatorsmouth , and congrats to all the other longlisters. 🐌🎉

It feels like ages since I've been up to Town for a book launch but there couldn't be a more beautiful book than Mo's Stick by the super-talented @fiona_lumbers to kick the season off. Mo the mouse has lost his favourite stick. How will he cope without its magic? With a gorgeous colour palette and elegant design, the book follows Mo on his journey of imagination and self-discovery. Thank you so much to @papercatbooks for hosting! It was a lovely evening and great to catch up with friends. Mo's Stick is out on March 5th from the good folk at @littletigerbooks .

Hello! Yesterday I took a trip into the wilds of Julia Donaldson Country™ (is this a thing, English Tourist Board?) to do a couple of Beastie Bros-themed comics workshops at @steyning_bookshop . It's a fantastic shop, whose hard-working owners are, randomly, very distant relatives of mine. The workshops were brilliantly organised and the kids were amazingly creative – see the bookshop's feed (from where I stole these snaps) for some pictures of their work. I also met a reader who had come especially to show me her drawing of Dribble! So cool! Thank you so much to Gudrun, Sara and Alice for looking after me. I had a lovely time!

A double dose of me today, as these two make their first appearance on the bookshelves! 🐨🐨 The KOALAS IN CAPES, furry superhero guardians of Pawtonia, are the brainchild of the amazing @cowfishdreams . In their first adventure, they take on the evil Dr Colossus, ostrich supervillian and his army of zombie chickens! This is hugely funny and has been a total dream to illustrate. I love these little guys! Designed by @raytierney_art , KOALAS IN CAPES is out today from the good folk at @nosycrow .