Shirley Hughes
Born and raised in West Kirby, a quiet seaside town on the Wirral, Shirley Hughes spent her wartime childhood drawing, painting and making up stories with her two sisters. Encouraged and inspired by visits to Liverpool’s magnificent Walker Art Gallery, Shirley developed a lifelong interest in ‘narrative painting’, or pictures that tell stories.
Shirley Hughes is one of the best-loved and most innovative creators of books for young children. Shirley Hughes has written and illustrated over 50 books and sold more than eleven million copies, won major awards and created some of the most enduring characters of children’s literature.
Shirley Hughes soon settled in Notting Hill developing her distinctive graphic style using pen and ink, watercolour and gouache with which she infuses ordinary domestic scenes with a mixture of cosiness and magic.