'Horrible Histories: Edinburgh'.
Mike Alan Philips was a British illustrator of children's books, mostly active for Scholastic. He is notable as the illustrator of Alison Grunwald's children's book series 'Whatever Next, Grandma'. In the 2000s, he contributed to various titles of Terry Deary's humorous children's book series about the gruesome facts of history, 'Horrible Histories' and is the artist of the spin-offs 'Horrible Geography' by Anita Ganeri, Gill Arbuthnott's 'Fact-Tastic Stories' and 'Foul Football' by Michael Coleman. He should not be confused with U.S. film critic Michael Phillips (1961).
Life and illustration career
Michael Alan Philips was born in 1961 in East London. From a young age, he already enjoyed drawing comic characters, based on the ones he read about in books and magazines. At age 15, he left school and went into the printing industry. In 1993, Philips started sending cartoons to newspapers and various magazines, designing birthday cards from 1995 on. In 1998, Philips took an agent and was hired by publishing company Beehive, where he illustrated more than 300 titles, including Tereza Anteneová's 'Spikey' (2021), Mike Nicholson's 'Museum Mystery Squad' series and Alison Grunwald's 'Whatever Next, Grandma' series. His favorite was Alison Grunwald's 'Grandma Rides A Pony' (2021) from the 'Whatever Next, Grandma!' series. Philips also created the busy picture book 'Great Scotland Search' (2024), where readers have to spot characters in crowd illustrations set in Scotland.
Horrible Histories
Mike Philips contributed comics and cartoons to Terry Deary's humorous educational children's book series 'Horrible Histories', published by Scholastic, which focuses on gruesome details from historical events. In a style reminscent of the series' usual house illustrator, Martin Brown, Philips livened up the pages of three specials devoted to the history of three cities: 'York' (2005), 'Edinburgh' (2005) and 'Dublin' (2006). Other artists who've illustrated the 'Horrible Histories' series have been Philip Reeve and Kate Sheppard.
Horrible Histories spin-offs: 'Horrible Geography'
Since 'Horrible Histories' were popular in merchandising and translation, Scholastic started producing more educational children's books discussing topics their target audience usually would perceive as "boring", but presented in a more humorous and sensationalist style. Deary had no involvement in these spin-offs, but Reeve became the main illustrator of one of them, 'Horrible Geography', written by Anita Ganeri. Philips' drawings have adorned the books 'Odious Oceans' (1999), 'Stormy Weather' (1999), 'Violent Volcanoes' (1999), 'Desperate Deserts' (2000), 'Earth-Shattering Earthquakes' (2000), 'Raging Rivers' (2000), 'Bloomin' Rainforests' (2001), 'Freaky Peaks' (2001), 'Perishing Poles' (2002), 'Intrepid Explorers' (2003), 'Wild Islands' (2004), 'Monster Lakes' (2005), 'Cracking Coasts' (2006) and 'Wicked World Tour' (2007).
Horrible Histories spin-offs: 'Foul Football'
With former sport journalist Michael Coleman, Reeve also published 'Foul Football', focused on sensational trivia about the sport and memorable events during matches. He illustrated the titles 'Foul Football' (1997), 'Wicked World Cup' (1998), 'Furious Euro's: The European Championship 1960-2004' (2000), 'Legendary Leagues' (2001), 'Triumphant Teams' (2001), 'The Phenomenal FA Cup' (2001), 'The Ultimate Fan's Handbook' (2002), 'World Cup Quiz Book' (2002), 'Prize Players' (2003), 'Even Fouler Football' (2004), 'England' (2006), 'Wicked World Cup 2006' (2006), 'The Ups and Downs of the Premier League' (2008) and 'Kickin' Quiz Book' (2008).
Horrible Histories spin-offs: 'Fact-Tastic Stories'
Reeve also provided illustrations to Gill Arbuthnott's 'Fact-Tastic Stories', devoted to anecdotes regarding one particular historical character, event or era. He drew comics and cartoons for 'The Amazing Life of Mary, Queen of Scots' (2021). The other two titles were illustrated by Darren Gate.
Final years and death
Mike Philips suddenly died in 2024.
'Horrible Histories: Dublin'.