Life

Radio review: Shirley Hughes on the art of writing for children

Nuala McCann

Nuala McCann

Nuala McCann is an Irish News columnist and writes a weekly radio review.

Nuala McCann
Nuala McCann Nuala McCann

Woman’s Hour Takeover Week Radio 4

My fondness for Shirley Hughes has its roots in time spent with my own small child and my nephews and nieces perched on my knee for a story.

Her first big breakthrough was drawing pictures for My Naughty Little Sister, the stories by Dorothy Edwards, but she went on to become famous as both an illustrator and an author.

Alfie and Annie Rose are characters that have amused and comforted small children down the years – they are stories to be read to a small child who is cuddled up close or sitting on a lap.

She was the first guest editor on Woman’s Hour’s takeover week and she chose topics close to her heart - learning to look, how you write and the importance of libraries.

Her passion, her joy and her dedication are evident.

Perhaps people think writing children’s picture books is very easy but every word has to count. You have to make the page turnover count, keep the child’s attention, try to pace the story and have a good ending.

When you get down to the nitty gritty, that means 32 pages. Look at what’s out there, she advised budding authors and illustrators, see how it works, nuts and bolts.

She also said she had “a colossal amount of support” - Andrea MacDonald from Penguin Random House and freelance designer Ness Wood were on hand to talk about their roles.

The chat turned to whether there were enough working class stories. And the rookie mistakes, like illustrators sending in work without putting names and phone numbers on.

It was an easy and interesting listen.

It was made sweeter by the appearance of the real Dogger from the storybook, the toy that gets lost at that long ago jumble sale. One of his ears is permanently turned up because his owner – Shirley’s son - hugged him so close for many years.