Alfie made his first appearance thirty years ago when I made a quick sketch of him running up the street ahead of his mum and his little sister Annie Rose, determined to get in first. That drawing probably took me about four minutes to do, but I knew from that moment that he was pink in the face to get into the action. This was an inside-outside story in which Alfie slams the front door and gets stuck inside while Mum and the neighbours are on the doorstop trying to get him out.

The Alfie stories are rooted in family life, birthdays, walks in the park and high dramas such as burst pipes and trying to get your boots on the right feet. In the latest collection, All About Alfie, Alfie and his best friend Bernard go to visit Alfie’s Great-Grandma on her 90th birthday – and that is a very special occasion.



Make you own special fairy cakes, to celebrate with Alfie. Download the sheet here!