Shirley's work has received great critical acclaim over the past fifty years; here are just a few examples:
Classic of the month: The Alfie Books
"Hughes is a magical storyteller with an instinctive understanding of the mind of the pre-schooler"
(Guardian, 29 June 2005)
Alfie and the Big Boys
"Hughes invites young readers into a world they will recognise and love"
(The Sunday Times, 2 December 2007)
Annie Rose is my Little Sister
"Generations of children have grown up and found out about the world through the stories of the small, square, determined and apple-cheeked Alfie"
(Guardian, 22 July 2008)
Alfie Weather
"I am reminded of something John Diamond wrote not long before his death: ‘This, here, now, is what happiness is. Enjoy it.' To me, the work of Shirley Hughes says something very similar."
(Telegraph, 14 April 2001)
Dogger
"Dogger is just one of the books that … completely understands how children inhabit a world that is as passionate and particular as it is confusing"
(The Times, 29 January 2009)
Dogger
"This is the perfect children's story"
(Guardian, 7 January 2004)
Jonadab and Rita
"Shirley Hughes is one of the greatest writers and illustrators for pre-schoolers that we have"
(The Times, 30 August 2008)
Jonadab and Rita
"Picture books need to engage and delight children while also entertaining the adults who read them aloud. Hughes's new picture book achieves this end triumphantly."
(The Sunday Times, 7 September 2008)
Ella’s Big Chance
"The pictures are glamorous, romantic and atmospheric; drawn with a breezily relaxed line, they are expressive of character and scrupulous about details of place and time"
(The Sunday Times, 31 August 2003)
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