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Take a leap into The Wandthorn Woods in The Rambler’s Curse, the first book in a brand-new trilogy of illustrated novels, from the brilliant Mikey Please! 🌲

We’re delighted to be revealing the glorious cover and our stunning sprayed edge exclusive edition, with illustrated end papers and ribbon bookmark.

Set in the gloriously funny world of the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year-winning The Café at the Edge of the Woods, The Rambler’s Curse follows the unexpected drama that unfolds when Rene and Glumfoot receive a particularly worrisome new customer….

Publishing this October, preorder our exclusive edition with sprayed edges, bespoke colour endpapers, ribbon bookmark and Mikey’s sketches on jacket interior, online and in your local Waterstones!

Music credit: @bookshopband 🎶✨

THE EXPANDED EARTH is officially out tomorrow! Here I am, in my one nice shirt, talking about the wonderful winding ways in which I got to the final image. I hope you enjoy the book, and if you’re Somerset based, come and say hi at the @mrbsemporium event on April 15th or the @bookhausbristol event on April 29th. Links in bio!

It publication day! Run to your local bookshop at the edge of the woods! Here’s a real time drawing and painting video to celebrate.

Thank you everyone @harpercollinsch @harperkids ! @al_slacker @candiceturvey and Luke Ingram.

I love this book, and hope you will to.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #illustration #reneandglumfoot #ogre #goblin #chef #kidslit

King of the parade! The good folk of City Academy Whitehawk made a giant Glumfoot and Ogre for the Brighton Children’s Parade, which stomped it's way along the sunny seaside this morning. Spearheaded by expert Rene cosplayer, Florella Soflia (slide 2)! Thank you to all the team who put so many hours into building this big and beautiful guy, and to those poor polebearers who lugged the brute around. Incredible and - by the looks of things - sweaty work! Sad to not see him IRL, but by all accounts, Ogre was a huge hit. He certainly seems to be having a nice time. Safe travels!

#parade #brightonchildrensparade #cityacademywhitehawk #thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot

King of the parade! The good folk of City Academy Whitehawk made a giant Glumfoot and Ogre for the Brighton Children’s Parade, which stomped it's way along the sunny seaside this morning. Spearheaded by expert Rene cosplayer, Florella Soflia (slide 2)! Thank you to all the team who put so many hours into building this big and beautiful guy, and to those poor polebearers who lugged the brute around. Incredible and - by the looks of things - sweaty work! Sad to not see him IRL, but by all accounts, Ogre was a huge hit. He certainly seems to be having a nice time. Safe travels!

#parade #brightonchildrensparade #cityacademywhitehawk #thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot

King of the parade! The good folk of City Academy Whitehawk made a giant Glumfoot and Ogre for the Brighton Children’s Parade, which stomped it's way along the sunny seaside this morning. Spearheaded by expert Rene cosplayer, Florella Soflia (slide 2)! Thank you to all the team who put so many hours into building this big and beautiful guy, and to those poor polebearers who lugged the brute around. Incredible and - by the looks of things - sweaty work! Sad to not see him IRL, but by all accounts, Ogre was a huge hit. He certainly seems to be having a nice time. Safe travels!

#parade #brightonchildrensparade #cityacademywhitehawk #thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot

King of the parade! The good folk of City Academy Whitehawk made a giant Glumfoot and Ogre for the Brighton Children’s Parade, which stomped it's way along the sunny seaside this morning. Spearheaded by expert Rene cosplayer, Florella Soflia (slide 2)! Thank you to all the team who put so many hours into building this big and beautiful guy, and to those poor polebearers who lugged the brute around. Incredible and - by the looks of things - sweaty work! Sad to not see him IRL, but by all accounts, Ogre was a huge hit. He certainly seems to be having a nice time. Safe travels!

#parade #brightonchildrensparade #cityacademywhitehawk #thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot

King of the parade! The good folk of City Academy Whitehawk made a giant Glumfoot and Ogre for the Brighton Children’s Parade, which stomped it's way along the sunny seaside this morning. Spearheaded by expert Rene cosplayer, Florella Soflia (slide 2)! Thank you to all the team who put so many hours into building this big and beautiful guy, and to those poor polebearers who lugged the brute around. Incredible and - by the looks of things - sweaty work! Sad to not see him IRL, but by all accounts, Ogre was a huge hit. He certainly seems to be having a nice time. Safe travels!

#parade #brightonchildrensparade #cityacademywhitehawk #thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot

King of the parade! The good folk of City Academy Whitehawk made a giant Glumfoot and Ogre for the Brighton Children’s Parade, which stomped it's way along the sunny seaside this morning. Spearheaded by expert Rene cosplayer, Florella Soflia (slide 2)! Thank you to all the team who put so many hours into building this big and beautiful guy, and to those poor polebearers who lugged the brute around. Incredible and - by the looks of things - sweaty work! Sad to not see him IRL, but by all accounts, Ogre was a huge hit. He certainly seems to be having a nice time. Safe travels!

#parade #brightonchildrensparade #cityacademywhitehawk #thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot

King of the parade! The good folk of City Academy Whitehawk made a giant Glumfoot and Ogre for the Brighton Children’s Parade, which stomped it's way along the sunny seaside this morning. Spearheaded by expert Rene cosplayer, Florella Soflia (slide 2)! Thank you to all the team who put so many hours into building this big and beautiful guy, and to those poor polebearers who lugged the brute around. Incredible and - by the looks of things - sweaty work! Sad to not see him IRL, but by all accounts, Ogre was a huge hit. He certainly seems to be having a nice time. Safe travels!

#parade #brightonchildrensparade #cityacademywhitehawk #thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot

King of the parade! The good folk of City Academy Whitehawk made a giant Glumfoot and Ogre for the Brighton Children’s Parade, which stomped it's way along the sunny seaside this morning. Spearheaded by expert Rene cosplayer, Florella Soflia (slide 2)! Thank you to all the team who put so many hours into building this big and beautiful guy, and to those poor polebearers who lugged the brute around. Incredible and - by the looks of things - sweaty work! Sad to not see him IRL, but by all accounts, Ogre was a huge hit. He certainly seems to be having a nice time. Safe travels!

#parade #brightonchildrensparade #cityacademywhitehawk #thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot

We are so excited to present our Orange Beak Evening in May with writer, director animator and illustrator Mikey Please.
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Mikey Please is a BAFTA-winning and OSCAR-nominated writer, director, animator and illustrator. His music videos and short films have earned him over 60 international awards, including a BAFTA for his short film The Eagleman Stag.
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Mikey’s debut author/illustrated picture book, ‘The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods’, won the Waterstones Children's Book of the Year 2025.
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We look forward to hearing about Mikey’s work in film and creating beautiful picture books, his journey and process through illustration and what inspires him.
*
Following the talk, there will be an audience Q&A opportunity.
*
Tickets are sold through Eventbrite and are non-refundable. Zoom links will be emailed directly to you on the day of the event around 5pm UK time. The event is LIVE - but buying a ticket will give you access to a recording which will be available to view back for one week afterwards. You will be sent a link for this the day after the event.
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We can't wait!
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#MikeyPlease #OrangeBeakEvening #WaterstonesBookOfTheYear #ChildrensIllustration #Picturebook

Some spring events are coming up!
April 21st - @waterstonescanterburystmags chatting about The Expanded Earth

May 16th -
@waterstones_kids Children's Book fest, Rene and Glumfoot themed, of course.

May 21st @orangebeakstudio an online talk chatting about illustration and storytelling!

May 23rd @hayfestival chatting about Rene and Glumfoot

Come and say hi / heckle.

links to tickets on my website / in bio.

Ever wondered what lies beyond the edge of the woods? Step over the tree line, in.. The Rambler’s Curse. 🌲

We’re super excited to announce the first book in a brand-new trilogy of illustrated novels, from the brilliant Mikey Please!

Set in the gloriously funny world of the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year-winning The Café at the Edge of the Woods, The Rambler’s Curse follows the unexpected drama that unfolds when Rene and Glumfoot receive a particularly worrisome new customer….

Coming this October, preorder our exclusive edition with sprayed edges, bespoke colour endpapers, ribbon bookmark and Mikey’s sketches on jacket interior, online and in your local Waterstones!

Music credits: @bookshopband ✨

Delighted to share that Mikey Please's THE EXPANDED EARTH is Waterstones Science Fiction & Fantasy Book of the Month this month! #WBOTM

Welcome to the micropocalypse.
Welcome to The Expanded Earth...

'An excellent, inventive novel' Financial Times

'The Expanded Earth is a wonderfully sustained celebration of human ingenuity' Irish Times

'I loved the fantastic, horrifying, heartwarming, mind-boggling adventure of it' Emma Hooper

'Mikey Please has one of the most brilliant minds I know' Daniel Kwan, director of Everything Everywhere All At Once

A smattering of time-lapses from my first author/illustrated books, The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café. The third book in the Rene and Glumfoot series - The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards - is out this Sept with @harpercollinsch, and there’s more VERY EXCITING news from your favourite (only?) goblin & chef duo dropping soon. Still shocking to see my slightly squinty face (I promise, I do usually have eyes) popping up in the line-up for @thebritishbookawards Illustrator of the Year. A few years back, I sheepishly suggested to a friend that I might try giving the book biz a serious go, and they (warmly) joked that I shouldn’t give up my day job. It’s been a year now doing this kind of thing (mostly) full-time (plus some screen and novel writing, animation dev. Ha!), and so far it’s been an absolute dream. I love making books and am so happy to be here. Here’s hoping I can keep this going. Thanks to everyone who’s picked up a copy or cheered these little fellas along their way. Long live handicrafts! Down with AI! Etc etc.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot #illustration #goblin #chef

A smattering of time-lapses from my first author/illustrated books, The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café. The third book in the Rene and Glumfoot series - The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards - is out this Sept with @harpercollinsch, and there’s more VERY EXCITING news from your favourite (only?) goblin & chef duo dropping soon. Still shocking to see my slightly squinty face (I promise, I do usually have eyes) popping up in the line-up for @thebritishbookawards Illustrator of the Year. A few years back, I sheepishly suggested to a friend that I might try giving the book biz a serious go, and they (warmly) joked that I shouldn’t give up my day job. It’s been a year now doing this kind of thing (mostly) full-time (plus some screen and novel writing, animation dev. Ha!), and so far it’s been an absolute dream. I love making books and am so happy to be here. Here’s hoping I can keep this going. Thanks to everyone who’s picked up a copy or cheered these little fellas along their way. Long live handicrafts! Down with AI! Etc etc.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot #illustration #goblin #chef

A smattering of time-lapses from my first author/illustrated books, The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café. The third book in the Rene and Glumfoot series - The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards - is out this Sept with @harpercollinsch, and there’s more VERY EXCITING news from your favourite (only?) goblin & chef duo dropping soon. Still shocking to see my slightly squinty face (I promise, I do usually have eyes) popping up in the line-up for @thebritishbookawards Illustrator of the Year. A few years back, I sheepishly suggested to a friend that I might try giving the book biz a serious go, and they (warmly) joked that I shouldn’t give up my day job. It’s been a year now doing this kind of thing (mostly) full-time (plus some screen and novel writing, animation dev. Ha!), and so far it’s been an absolute dream. I love making books and am so happy to be here. Here’s hoping I can keep this going. Thanks to everyone who’s picked up a copy or cheered these little fellas along their way. Long live handicrafts! Down with AI! Etc etc.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot #illustration #goblin #chef

A smattering of time-lapses from my first author/illustrated books, The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café. The third book in the Rene and Glumfoot series - The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards - is out this Sept with @harpercollinsch, and there’s more VERY EXCITING news from your favourite (only?) goblin & chef duo dropping soon. Still shocking to see my slightly squinty face (I promise, I do usually have eyes) popping up in the line-up for @thebritishbookawards Illustrator of the Year. A few years back, I sheepishly suggested to a friend that I might try giving the book biz a serious go, and they (warmly) joked that I shouldn’t give up my day job. It’s been a year now doing this kind of thing (mostly) full-time (plus some screen and novel writing, animation dev. Ha!), and so far it’s been an absolute dream. I love making books and am so happy to be here. Here’s hoping I can keep this going. Thanks to everyone who’s picked up a copy or cheered these little fellas along their way. Long live handicrafts! Down with AI! Etc etc.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot #illustration #goblin #chef

A smattering of time-lapses from my first author/illustrated books, The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café. The third book in the Rene and Glumfoot series - The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards - is out this Sept with @harpercollinsch, and there’s more VERY EXCITING news from your favourite (only?) goblin & chef duo dropping soon. Still shocking to see my slightly squinty face (I promise, I do usually have eyes) popping up in the line-up for @thebritishbookawards Illustrator of the Year. A few years back, I sheepishly suggested to a friend that I might try giving the book biz a serious go, and they (warmly) joked that I shouldn’t give up my day job. It’s been a year now doing this kind of thing (mostly) full-time (plus some screen and novel writing, animation dev. Ha!), and so far it’s been an absolute dream. I love making books and am so happy to be here. Here’s hoping I can keep this going. Thanks to everyone who’s picked up a copy or cheered these little fellas along their way. Long live handicrafts! Down with AI! Etc etc.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot #illustration #goblin #chef

A smattering of time-lapses from my first author/illustrated books, The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café. The third book in the Rene and Glumfoot series - The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards - is out this Sept with @harpercollinsch, and there’s more VERY EXCITING news from your favourite (only?) goblin & chef duo dropping soon. Still shocking to see my slightly squinty face (I promise, I do usually have eyes) popping up in the line-up for @thebritishbookawards Illustrator of the Year. A few years back, I sheepishly suggested to a friend that I might try giving the book biz a serious go, and they (warmly) joked that I shouldn’t give up my day job. It’s been a year now doing this kind of thing (mostly) full-time (plus some screen and novel writing, animation dev. Ha!), and so far it’s been an absolute dream. I love making books and am so happy to be here. Here’s hoping I can keep this going. Thanks to everyone who’s picked up a copy or cheered these little fellas along their way. Long live handicrafts! Down with AI! Etc etc.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot #illustration #goblin #chef

A smattering of time-lapses from my first author/illustrated books, The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café. The third book in the Rene and Glumfoot series - The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards - is out this Sept with @harpercollinsch, and there’s more VERY EXCITING news from your favourite (only?) goblin & chef duo dropping soon. Still shocking to see my slightly squinty face (I promise, I do usually have eyes) popping up in the line-up for @thebritishbookawards Illustrator of the Year. A few years back, I sheepishly suggested to a friend that I might try giving the book biz a serious go, and they (warmly) joked that I shouldn’t give up my day job. It’s been a year now doing this kind of thing (mostly) full-time (plus some screen and novel writing, animation dev. Ha!), and so far it’s been an absolute dream. I love making books and am so happy to be here. Here’s hoping I can keep this going. Thanks to everyone who’s picked up a copy or cheered these little fellas along their way. Long live handicrafts! Down with AI! Etc etc.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot #illustration #goblin #chef

A smattering of time-lapses from my first author/illustrated books, The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café. The third book in the Rene and Glumfoot series - The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards - is out this Sept with @harpercollinsch, and there’s more VERY EXCITING news from your favourite (only?) goblin & chef duo dropping soon. Still shocking to see my slightly squinty face (I promise, I do usually have eyes) popping up in the line-up for @thebritishbookawards Illustrator of the Year. A few years back, I sheepishly suggested to a friend that I might try giving the book biz a serious go, and they (warmly) joked that I shouldn’t give up my day job. It’s been a year now doing this kind of thing (mostly) full-time (plus some screen and novel writing, animation dev. Ha!), and so far it’s been an absolute dream. I love making books and am so happy to be here. Here’s hoping I can keep this going. Thanks to everyone who’s picked up a copy or cheered these little fellas along their way. Long live handicrafts! Down with AI! Etc etc.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot #illustration #goblin #chef

A smattering of time-lapses from my first author/illustrated books, The Café at the Edge of the Woods and The Cave Downwind of the Café. The third book in the Rene and Glumfoot series - The Thieves Beneath the Floorboards - is out this Sept with @harpercollinsch, and there’s more VERY EXCITING news from your favourite (only?) goblin & chef duo dropping soon. Still shocking to see my slightly squinty face (I promise, I do usually have eyes) popping up in the line-up for @thebritishbookawards Illustrator of the Year. A few years back, I sheepishly suggested to a friend that I might try giving the book biz a serious go, and they (warmly) joked that I shouldn’t give up my day job. It’s been a year now doing this kind of thing (mostly) full-time (plus some screen and novel writing, animation dev. Ha!), and so far it’s been an absolute dream. I love making books and am so happy to be here. Here’s hoping I can keep this going. Thanks to everyone who’s picked up a copy or cheered these little fellas along their way. Long live handicrafts! Down with AI! Etc etc.

#thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #reneandglumfoot #illustration #goblin #chef

The Expanded Earth audiobook is available for pre-order! Narrated by the wonderful Peter Kenny (of The Witcher audiobook fame) and scored by the brilliant @bookshopband. Here’s a new bit of art reconfiguring the front and back covers AND adding in my favourite Green cactus-headed Giant into the mix. He didn't make the final cut on the book versions, but he lives at last! Per-order nowand we - the entire internet - can do a communal group listen on April 2nd. Available from wherever you get your audiobooks.

#theexpandedearth #audiobook #scififantasy #micropocalypase

Ready your ears, dear listeners, for there are Rene and Glumfoot audiobooks! I love audiobooks and churn through them whilst drawing, so delighted, at last, to offer up some of my own. The first two Rene and Glumfoot books out now, more to come! Performed by moi, (I hope the voices are a near approximation of how you imagined them,) produced the brilliant Tanya Hougham aka @the_illustration_studio recorded at @idaudio for @harpercollinsch

#reneandglumfoot #thecafeattheedgeofthewoods #thecavedownwindofthecafe #audiobook

*SOUND ON*
BEHOLD! The Expanded Earth, my debut novel, an adult illustrated science fiction adventure, is out in paperback in a little over two weeks! April 2nd. I am beyond proud of this micropocalyptic odyssey, following what happens when everyone on Earth is suddenly shrunk to the height of their handspan – a transformation that is both potentially deadly and exasperatingly inconvenient.

Hard to pigeon-hole, genre-wise, I thought it might be helpful to collate a smattering of actual readers’ opinions, and cut them into a sizzling reel, whilst also showing off some of the internal illustrations. Had fun animating a few. All scored to a spellbinding piece of music commissioned from @bookshopband to celebrate the launch. Those cascades of twinkling piano perfectly capture the feeling of falling down the rabbit hole.

Thrilled to say the hardback was a Times Bestseller, and is riding a respectable 4.04/5 on Goodreads and a 4.3/5 on Amazon. As ever, huge thank-yous to the team at Corsair and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk , my editor-in-chief - @lovemostnearlyitself and my fearless agent, Luke Ingram. And my wife, Jessi, whose sainthood cannot be more overstated – the degree to which she’s had to listen to me prattle on about this story over the last 12 years, no one should have to endure.

The paperback also has an extra short story! More on that later. Please pre-order (links in bio) and look forward to diving in over the next few weeks. Age rating, I think it’s a 13+. There are gory parts, but nothing sweary or spicy. The first in a trilogy, brace for more. Oh, and viva la human handicrafts and down with AI :)

#TheExpandedEarth #book #micropocalypse #illustration