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Original poster

Shirley Hughes

91 replies

viques · 02/03/2022 12:18

I always got a bit teary when I read Dogger, so forgive me if I am having a bit of a sniffle now. Rest in Peace Shirley, thank you for writing such comforting re readable stories.

OP posts:
TheWeeDonkey · 02/03/2022 19:01

Aw that's so sad. The Alfie and My Naughty Little Sister were some of my favourite books as a child and started my love of books

RIP Shirley 💐

Howeverdoyouneedme · 02/03/2022 19:05

Her books set at Christmas are some of the loveliest I have ever read. It gave my children the idea to have a stocking for their dolls, the houses look like our London home. I also loved how she captured the mum feeling harassed by the little sister

Waitwhat23 · 02/03/2022 19:06

My little girl's favourite is 'When we went to the Park'. I love it because the little girl in the story looks just like my wee one and she adores her Papa too.

All her books are such beautiful illustrations of family life.

Pallisers · 02/03/2022 19:07

Oh I loved reading Shirley Hughes books to my children. Especially Alfie. Such lovely illustrations too. RIP.

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 02/03/2022 19:09

Dogger was my absolute favourite book when I was little

Ilikecheeseontoast · 02/03/2022 19:10

My absolute favourite! So sad! Rip Shirley x

woodhill · 02/03/2022 19:10

Love her books, RIP Shirley

HappydaysArehere · 02/03/2022 19:14

Here, here to the above. She was great and what a wonderful legacy she has left for future generations to enjoy.

TopTabby · 02/03/2022 19:17

Very fond memories of Dogger & My Naughty Little Sister, such lovely books.

Gatekeeper · 02/03/2022 19:21

her illustrations are an absolute joy- warm, tender and true

hellcatspangle · 02/03/2022 19:23

Oh I loved reading her Alfie and Annie Rose books to my kids when they were little...the illustrations were just beautiful ❤️

SchrodingersKitty · 02/03/2022 19:31

I felt weepy too. The edition of Little Women I read till it felt apart was illustrated by Shirley. We had her complete works when DS (22) was little and read the Alfie stories endlessly. Dogger a great favourite too. I bought the same volume for my step-grand-daughter a couple of years ago. I love the way that the pictures in the Alfie books tell a story in parallel to the words - Annie Rose building her own little worlds in corners and under tables.

2022ben · 02/03/2022 19:40

I loved Shirley Hughes. I am really sad that she was never made a Dame - she was a CBE, but she was such an icon of children’s literature and literacy and yet never acknowledged as such. There’s a terrific documentary about her that will hopefully be repeated by way of obituary.

DuckonaBike · 02/03/2022 19:43

She was wonderful wasn’t she? I found the most amazing thing the way she captured a child’s view of the world. She showed the things that really matter (like when Alfie loses his pet stone) or the small incidents that make an adventure (a sheep gets out of the field and then gets back in again). She obviously never forgot how to think like a child.

MissHoney85 · 02/03/2022 19:49

Such lovely books, she leaves such a wonderful legacy. As others have said she clearly had such a great understanding of and affection for children, and really captured those little everyday adventures that make a childhood. Her illustrations are old fashioned but don't feel dated - just timeless.

LadyCordeliaFitzgerald · 02/03/2022 19:54

When my dc were small there was a Shirley Hughes story for every worry, every adventure, every mood.

woodhill · 02/03/2022 19:59

@DuckonaBike

She was wonderful wasn’t she? I found the most amazing thing the way she captured a child’s view of the world. She showed the things that really matter (like when Alfie loses his pet stone) or the small incidents that make an adventure (a sheep gets out of the field and then gets back in again). She obviously never forgot how to think like a child.
Bontin 😀
ouchmyfeet · 02/03/2022 20:03

Oh I didn't realise she'd died. I loved her books as a child, reading them with my dad is one of my earliest memories.

Helocariad · 02/03/2022 20:05

Yes, the stone Alfie finds & loses on the beach. And his mum makes a swimming costume for it :-D !

Or 'Proper Words' where Alfie's boisterous friend Bernard teaches Annie Rose to say his name.

I love 'Helpers' too where a teenage boy looks after 3 younger children. He does his best but just wants to read his magazine really :-D

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 02/03/2022 20:12

Bonting. Grin

Dernard!

woodhill · 02/03/2022 20:14

The illustrations of very 70s so it has a lovely nostalgic feeling

Is Peepo by her as well?

scrivette · 02/03/2022 20:17

The stories are so beautifully written and beautifully illustrated, they are a joy to read and share.

I always have a cry when I read Dogger, apparently she based it on one of her own children's toy dogs.

RIP Shirley Hughes.

Fortyminutes · 02/03/2022 20:18

This news made me cry a bit too. To be fair the Ukraine updates had got me pretty close so it didn’t take much but I love her books and her depictions of normal, loving family life.
Dogger is my absolute fave but I love Alfies’s Christmas and Bonting.
Rip Shirley

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 02/03/2022 20:19

@woodhill

The illustrations of very 70s so it has a lovely nostalgic feeling

Is Peepo by her as well?

No, Peepo was by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. Janet Ahlberg died far too young, but her daughter is now a very talented illustrator.
OneOfTheGrundys · 02/03/2022 20:20

RIP Shirley.
Our very favourite days even now my boys are teens are ‘Alfie’ days. The ones when you potter, do a few jobs, hang out the washing.
What pleasure she brought x