WONDERFUL, MUCH-LOVED CHILDREN'S WRITER/ILLUSTRATOR TURNS 80

Kate Kellaway visits the incomparable Shirley Hughes and writes of her meeting in the Sunday Observer yesterday.

To call this remarkable writer much-loved is probably a great understatement. What joy she has brought to us and our children over such a long long time. I was so delighted to read that she has just won an award for the best book to have ever wn the Kate Greenaway Medal. Wow, what an accolade, the ultimate really; what better birthday gift could she wish for?

Random House UK will publish her new book, Alfie & the Big Boys, (I can't wait), on 2 August. I will ask Random Hose NZ when we might expect it here and advise further.

Author pic above from Arts Council UK which has a nice profile of her at this website.