Hokitika Kiwi by my son’s friend at Sloefox Fine Art

The first thought that sprang to mind when I saw work created recently by a young lady who is a friend of my son was that were I to write the children’s book that is wandering round my mind, I think she would make a perfect illustrator. There is a quality to her work with a fineliner that took me straight back to the books of my childhood… even though reading them may not be so far away as you might expect.

I still read children’s books. I make no bones about that, nor any apology. There is a simplicity and clarity in the way the stories are woven, often barely hiding the underlying message; sometimes disguising it so well that it is only as an adult that you realise what you had been reading all those years ago. In…