Shirley Hughes's Conservative Imagination

Anew school year means new books for grade schoolers, though one notable children’s author’s literary journey has sadly reached its end this year: Shirley Hughes. The British author and illustrator, whose books sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and earned her many awards, died in February at her home in London after sixty years at the easel. It is a loss not only for children, but for parents who delighted in her many books, which in their unobtrusive beauty could be called conservative in the very best way.