The Book Sniffer: The tale of the Custard Cream with X-RAY vision and the flying Ginger Nut...

Introducing
Nikalas"Custard Cream" Catlow
and Tim "Ginger Nut" Wesson
The Author and Illustrator (dream) team behind the
Mega Mash-up series published by Nosy Crow

Custard Cream or Ginger Nut - but which one's better...?
There's only one way to find out....

If you were a mega mash-up of a super hero and a biscuit which would you choose?
Nikalas: I would be a custard cream with X-RAY vision
TIM: I would be a flying ginger nut

Dennis the Menace has been in the news because he's 60 years old! CRIPES - The Mega Mash-Ups have quite the look of a comic strip about them - Are you a fan of comics? Nikalas: I don't like those super hero comics like Marvel etc, but I am a HUGE fan of graphic novels and when I was a kid my favorite books were the Asterix comic books.

I can't draw horses or bikes is there anything you can't draw?
Horses are the HARDEST thing in the universe to draw. Apparently in Victorian times if you couldn't draw a horse then it was impossible to get a job as an illustrator. Thank goodness for the invention of the motorcar! We get round the problem by 'thinking outside the box'. Nikalas draws all his horses stuffed on wheels, whereas Tim draws his horses as ROBOTIC horses (also on wheels...).

What are you working on at the moment?We've just finished writing our fourth Mega Mash-Up book which is called Pirates v Ancient Egyptians in a Haunted Museum and are about to start on the illustrations. The book will be published in September but we have our third book Aliens v Mad Scientists under the Ocean coming out before then in June.

Which other authors and or illustrators would you like to work with?
We're both HUGE fans of Mr Gum so the chance to work with Andy Stanton would be fantastic.

The man the legend! Sir Andy Stanton

Do you have words of advice to new budding illustrators wanting to break into the crazy world of Children's Illustration?
Practice drawing horses everyday...

Tell us three interesting facts about Mega Mash-ups Authors Nikalas Catlow & Tim Wesson...

1. Tim is left handed and Nikalas is right handed. This might sound like completely banal information but it's proved to be incredibly helpful when drawing together live on stage or on film. check that out HERE

2. We actually get our ideas from a couple of elves that live in a shed at the bottom of the garden. They live rent free in return for funny stories.

3. Tim possesses the worlds LARGEST collection of Elephant bogies. Nikalas is a keen amateur collector of toenail clippings.

Can you recommend a cool new picture book for us to sniff out...

'Ribbit Rabbit' by Candace Ryan and illustrated by Mike Lowery, it was published in Feb by Bloomsbury and is absolutely brilliant in it's simplicity. Nikalas is also a huge fan of Sara Varon and is eagerly awaiting the publication of her next book 'Bake Sale' which comes out in August. If you haven't already read her previous book 'Robot Dreams' then you haven't lived...

Looks like a corker!

A word from the Sniffer on the Mega Mash-ups!

I have long been a fan of the spirograpgh with the occasional dalliance with an Etchosketch and that was the extent of my creativity but when the first Mega Mash-up landed in the dog basket I was compelled to dig out a packet of crayons I had left over from a friends party bag.

Nikalas and Tim have come up with a fabulous concept in which you can incorporate your own drawings into the story. A number of reluctant dinosaurs line up up to poo into torpedo shaped moulds... thus creating enough "Torpoodoes " to save the planet. (someone should tell Obama about this!) A highly titter some story from two terribly funny chaps. More books in this series will follow shortly and I can't wait ...I may even buy myself a Sharpie.

The Sniffer gives the Mega Mash-ups 4 glitter pens and a pineapple scented eraser out of 5