The beloved children’s author and illustrator Shirley Hughes has died after a short illness at the age of 94, her family said Wednesday.
Hughes, best known for her popular Alfie book series and the picture book Dogger which won her the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal, died “peacefully at home” on Friday.
Dogger, first published in 1977, told the story of a little boy who loses his stuffed dog toy.
She achieved the feat decades later, winning the prize a second time for Ella’s Big Chance, a reimagining of Cinderella, in 2003.
Throughout her career, she illustrated around 200 children’s books and sold more than 10 million copies of her books.
She was appointed a CBE in 2017 for her services to children’s literature, having been made an OBE in 1999.
Tributes flooded social media after news of her death hit headlines.
BookTrust, the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, paid tribute to Hughes.
They tweeted: “All of us at @BookTrust are devastated to hear the news that Shirley Hughes has passed away at the age of 94.
“Shirley’s incredible stories and illustrations, from Dogger to Alfie and Lucy and Tom, have touched so many generations and are still so loved. Thank you, Shirley.”
Author Michael Rosen was also among those paying tribute to Hughes. He said: “Shirley Hughes has gone.
“Long live wonderful, lovely Shirley. You’ve delighted and moved us for years and years and years and will go on doing so.”
The author was married to architect John Vulliamy and the couple had three children – daughter Clara and sons Ed and Tom.
In a statement, Hughes’s family said: “Shirley’s books about everyday family life are adored by generations of families and she is held in the highest esteem by her peers.”
Among her many achievements in her long career, she was awarded the inaugural BookTrust Lifetime Achievement award in 2015 by a judging panel which included Sir Michael Morpurgo and Malorie Blackman.
At the time, she said it was a “tremendous honour”.
“I have derived so much fulfilment from my long career, first as an illustrator of other artists’ stories and then creating my own,” she said.
The author was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2000 and in 2014 she was awarded the Simon Wiesenthal Centre/Museum of Tolerance Children’s Book Award for Hero On A Bicycle, her first novel published in 2012.
Born in West Kirby, she was the daughter of TJ Hughes who founded a successful chain of department stores that first originated in Liverpool.
She also studied fine art at Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art.
