Philip Reeve

Philip Reeve was born and brought up in Brighton, and has since lived in Devon and Dartmoor. He worked for many years in a bookshop, while involved with amateur film making and theatre.

Since 1994, he has earned his living as a cartoonist. His drawings are well known from three series of books for school children: Murderous Maths; Horrible Histories; and Dead Famous. He has provided illustrations and jokes for over forty books.

His first novel is Mortal Engines (2001), a thrilling fantasy adventure story with traditional elements and moral conundrums, set in a futuristic landscape where cities move across the globe, gobbling other towns and cities as they go. It opens: 'It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.' Mortal Engines won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Gold Award) in 2002 and was also shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book Award.

Philip Reeve has also had short stories published in various magazines, and is the author of the children's series of books about Buster Bayliss - far-fetched but hilarious tales for younger readers. He has also written a musical with Brian P Mitchell, 'The Ministry of Biscuits'.

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