Philip Reeve facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Philip Reeve
Philip Reeve's author photo in the first book of his Railhead trilogy
Born	28 February 1966 (age 59) Brighton, England
Occupation	Writer, illustrator, author
Language	English language
Residence	Dartmoor, Devon, England
Period	2001–present
Genre	Science fiction
Notable works	Mortal Engines Quartet Larklight trilogy
Notable awards	Guardian Prize 2006 Carnegie Medal 2008
Website
philipreeve.com
[edit on Wikidata]

Philip Reeve (born February 28, 1966) is a talented English author and illustrator. He is best known for his exciting children's books, especially the "Mortal Engines" series. His book Here Lies Arthur, which tells a new version of the King Arthur story, won a special award called the Carnegie Medal in 2008.

About Philip Reeve

Philip Reeve was born in Brighton, England, on February 28, 1966. He studied illustration at college. Before becoming a full-time writer and illustrator, he worked in a bookshop in Brighton for several years. He also wrote and performed in comedy shows. Today, he lives in Dartmoor, England, with his wife Sarah and their son Sam.

Early Career and Illustrations

Philip Reeve started his career as an illustrator. He drew cartoons for many books, including the popular Horrible Histories and Murderous Maths series. He also wrote a series of books for younger readers called the Buster Bayliss series. These books include fun titles like Night of the Living Veg and Custardfinger!.

He also co-wrote a funny musical play called The Ministry of Biscuits. This play is about a future where a special "Ministry" controls all biscuits. It was performed in different theaters across the United Kingdom.

Philip Reeve's Books

Philip Reeve is famous for writing many different kinds of books for young people.

The Mortal Engines Series

His first book for older readers was Mortal Engines, published in 2001. This book won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for its age group. It was also shortlisted for the Whitbread Book Award.

Mortal Engines is the first book in a series often called the Mortal Engines Quartet. This series includes Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices, and A Darkling Plain. These books are set in a future world where huge cities move around and hunt each other. The stories follow two young adventurers, Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw. For the fourth book, A Darkling Plain, Philip Reeve won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2006.

Philip Reeve spent over ten years thinking about and writing the Mortal Engines series. He started getting ideas for it in 1989 or 1990. He worked on it part-time while also doing his illustration jobs.

The Fever Crumb Prequels

Philip Reeve also wrote a series of books that take place before the Mortal Engines stories. This series is called the Fever Crumb series. The first book, Fever Crumb, was published in 2009. It was a finalist for the Carnegie Medal. Philip Reeve decided in 2020 that he would not write a fourth book in this series.

The Larklight Trilogy

The Larklight series (2006–2008) is a fun steampunk adventure set in outer space. The first book is simply called Larklight. These books were illustrated by David Wyatt. There were plans to turn Larklight into a movie.

The Railhead Trilogy

Philip Reeve also wrote the Railhead trilogy. This science fiction series includes Railhead (2015), Black Light Express (2016), and Station Zero (2018).

Other Notable Books

• Here Lies Arthur (2007) is a unique retelling of the Arthurian legend. This book won the prestigious Carnegie Medal in 2008.
• No Such Thing As Dragons (2009) is another standalone novel.

Collaborations with Sarah McIntyre

Philip Reeve has also written many popular books with British-American writer and illustrator Sarah McIntyre. Their first co-authored book was Oliver and the Seawigs (2013), which won the UKLA Award. Other books they created together include:

• Cakes in Space (2014)
• Pugs of the Frozen North (2015), which won an award for children's books.
• Jinks & O'Hare Funfair Repair (2016)

They also created the Roly-Poly Flying Pony series, starting with The Legend of Kevin (2018). Their newest series is Adventuremice, which began in 2023.

Writing Style

Philip Reeve has mentioned that he is not a very strict planner when he writes. He often starts with just a few ideas for the beginning and end of a story. He then lets the story develop as he writes. This means he might write many pages that he later changes or removes. It usually takes him about a year to finish a novel, from the first idea to the book being published.

Film Adaptations

The book Mortal Engines was made into a film in 2018. The movie was directed by Christian Rivers. Philip Reeve praised the film, saying it was a "huge, visually awesome action movie." He felt the director did a fantastic job, even though there were some changes from the books.

Another one of his books, Goblins, is planned to be made into a film by Laika.

List of Works

Young Adult Novels

Mortal Engines Universe

• Mortal Engines Quartet (also known as Hungry City Chronicles in the US):
  • Mortal Engines (2001)
  • Predator's Gold (2003)
  • Infernal Devices (2005)
  • A Darkling Plain (2006)
• Traction City (2011), a short novel
• The Traction Codex: An Historian's Guide to the Era of Predator Cities (2012), with Jeremy Levett
• Night Flights: A Mortal Engines Collection (2018), illustrated by Ian McQue, a collection of 3 prequel short stories
• The Illustrated World of Mortal Engines (2018), with Jeremy Levett
• Thunder City (2024)
• Fever Crumb series (prequel):
  • Fever Crumb (2009)
  • A Web of Air (2010)
  • Scrivener's Moon (2011)

Larklight trilogy

(illustrated by David Wyatt)

• Larklight (2006)
• Starcross (2007)
• Mothstorm (2008)

Railhead trilogy

• Railhead (2015)
• Black Light Express (2016)
• Station Zero (2018)

Utterly Dark series

• Utterly Dark and the Face of the Deep (2021)
• Utterly Dark and the Heart of the Wild (2022)
• Utterly Dark and the Tides of Time (2023)

Stand-alone novels

• Here Lies Arthur (2007)
• No Such Thing As Dragons (2009)

Short Stories

• "Doctor Who: The Roots of Evil" (2013)
• "The Exeter Riddles" (2013)

Children's Books

Buster Bayliss series

• Night of the Living Veg (2002)
• The Big Freeze (2002)
• Day of the Hamster (2002)
• Custardfinger! (2003)

Goblins series (illustrated by Dave Semple)

• Goblins (2012)
• Goblins vs Dwarves (2013)
• Goblin Quest (2014)

Reeve & McIntyre Production series (written and illustrated with Sarah McIntyre)

• Oliver and the Seawigs (2013) (published in the US as Oliver and the Sea Monkeys)
• Cakes in Space (2014)
• Pugs of the Frozen North (2015)
• Jinks & O'Hare Funfair Repair (2016) (published in the US as Carnival in a Fix)
• Pug-a-Doodle-Do! (2017), an activity book

Roly-Poly Flying Pony series (with Sarah McIntyre)

• The Legend of Kevin (2018)
• Kevin's Great Escape (2019)
• Kevin and the Biscuit Bandit (2020)
• Kevin vs the Unicorns (2021)

Adventuremice series (with Sarah McIntyre)

• Adventuremice: Otter Chaos (2023)
• Adventuremice: Mermouse Mystery (2023)
• Adventuremice: Mice on the Ice (2023)
• Adventuremice: Mice on the Moon (2024)
• Adventuremice: The Ghostly Galleon (2024)
• Adventuremice: Mice, Camera, Action! (2025)

Stand-alone

• The Angry Aztecs And The Incredible Incas: Two Books In One (2001), with Terry Deary

Non-fiction

• Horatio Nelson and His Victory (2003), from the Dead Famous series

As Illustrator

• Awful Art (1997), by Michael Cox
• Henry Spaloosh! (1997), by Chris d'Lacey
• Murderous Maths series (from 1997), by Kjartan Poskitt
• Isaac Newton and His Apple (1999), by Kjartan Poskitt
• The Incredible Incas (2000), by Terry Deary
• Pantsacadabra! (2006), by Kjartan Poskitt
• Urgum the Axeman (2006), by Kjartan Poskitt
• Borgon the Axeboy series (from 2014), by Kjartan Poskitt
• Gawain and the Green Knight (2016), retold by Philip Reeve

See also

In Spanish: Philip Reeve para niños