In fact that's how I first encountered "Dogger" by Shirley Hughes, after leafing through it in a book shop and buying it for my brother - purely based on the fact that a kid in the book dresses up for a fancy dress contest as a Dalek (my brother was, and still is completely obsessed by all things Doctor Who - even a tiny little cameo from the tinpot fascists in a children's story book).
Shirley Hughes is an amazing talent. Her gentle storytelling feels like it harks back to an era that existed around the same time as I was young Alfie's age (Alfie is usually the main character in Shirley's stories - a young lad living a fairly ordinary but - by today's standards - totally idyllic life).
However in "Dogger" it's a boy called Dave who falls completely in love with his favourite toy, a squishy little dog called Dogger. When Dogger is accidentally lost at a church fete, Dave is distraught. Even more so when another girl buys Dogger (who ended up on a bric a brac stall and was promptly resold). All seems lost, until Dave's fabulous older sister gives up the fantastic plush bear she's just won at the fete in order to get Dogger back for Dave.
I never realised how brilliant this story was when I read it to my little brother, but re-reading it to C was revelatory. Shirley depicts love here, the love of a child for a toy that they basically cannot function without - and if there's a better definition of love than the unbearable thought of existing without that thing (or that person), then I don't think I've ever seen it.
Shirley's artwork - as well as her storytelling - is always top notch, and though "Ella's Big Chance" isn't one of her books you see being trumpeted very often, it's absolutely stunning, I mean just look at that cover...
The tale begins with Ella and her father as successful dressmakers, producing some of the most beautiful dresses in the land.
When Ella's father remarries a rather mean and crabby woman, and brings her and her two daughters into their home, things change.
The new wife has grand ideas for their humble business and sets about turning it into a reputable fashion outlet - meaning lots more work for poor Ella!
Her new stepmother and stepsisters treat her poorly, and her father seems to become more withdrawn by the day. Luckily Ella has a friend in Buttons, the store's busy delivery boy who always makes time for Ella and cheers her up. The rest, as they say, is history as the story cleverly changes various aspects of Ella's eventual rise, making it based on her achievements rather than those of some handsome prince coming to rescue her. It really is one of Shirley's best books in our opinion, and well worth seeking out.
Of course we can't possibly talk about Shirley without mentioning the Alfie books...
As we mentioned above, Alfie's childhood will feel instantly familiar to kids (like me) who grew up in the 1970s and I guess that's because Shirley bases a lot of her stories and observations of what it would have been like in that era bringing up her own children.
Alfie could almost be me as a kid - though lacking the father figure, a lot of the things Alfie goes through feel extremely comfortable and familiar - particularly Alfie's relationship with his grandmother which draws such close parallels to the relationship I had with my own Nan that it's almost eerie how similar we are.
For kids today, the lure of Shirley's books is the distinctly unfamiliar - and the way Shirley cleverly works in aspects and elements of life that have hitherto been forgotten or pushed aside in our digital age, as kids no longer obsess about 'playing out' or climbing trees, content instead to waste hours playing videogames or making daft videos on tiktok (something we've spent a lot of our parenting time trying to avoid happening with our own daughter as you'll see from this blog over the past 10 years).
We absolutely love Shirl, she is exactly as we described her - kidlit royalty.
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