Shirley Hughes is one of my favorite picture book writers. And one of my favorite picture book illustrators. I fell in love with Alfie the moment I set eyes on him. I love his dealings with his little sister, Annie Rose. I love the life in the books and the pace.
Here’s a lovely article about Ms. Hughes. What an interesting woman. She’s in her eighties and releasing an adult graphic novel this year. You gotta admire her.
I found this little bit about publishing interesting:
But with hindsight she can see that her timing in terms of entering the industry was fortuitous. “I was on the cusp of a change. From the 1920s right up to the end of the second world war, most children’s books were for and about middle-class children because they were the only people who could afford them.” She therefore found herself illustrating grand old writers such as Noel Streatfeild or Dorothy Edwards.
“But after the war the children’s library service got going, and that opened up a whole world of books to children whose parents couldn’t afford to buy them. And a whole generation of writers and illustrators, including me, had a much wider public to write for.” That said, it was still tough to make a living. “And in reality my husband had to support me for at least a decade. It sounds terrible, but getting a partner who can support you isn’t such bad career advice.”
It makes me think about today with so many fearful over electronic publishing. Will is take money from writers or will it open up reading to people who have previously not been reading and so, help the industry out in the long run?
Oh, we’ve loved Hughes for ages. Dogger, all the Alfie books, Angel Mae …