Shirley Hughes, author and illustrator of Dogger, the Alfie books, and many other children's classics, has died at the age of 94.

Shirley's children Ed, Tom and Clara released the following statement this morning: "It is with deepest sorrow that we announce that Shirley died peacefully in her sleep at home on Friday 25th February."

Hughes illustrated over 200 children's books, with lifetime sales of over 11.3 million copies.  She was a life-long champion of libraries; celebrating them as a quiet space away from home for homework, as well as a source of books for all ages to enjoy.

Her books about everyday family life are adored by generations of families, and she is held in the highest esteem by her peers. 

Shirley was born in West Kirby, near Liverpool, and studied fashion and dress design at Liverpool Art School, before continuing her studies at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford.

She then embarked on a career as a freelance illustrator in London. She illustrated other writers' work, including Noel Streatfeild, Alison Uttley, Ian Seraillier, Margaret Mahy and notably Dorothy Edwards's My Naughty Little Sister series.

Hughes began to write and draw her own picture books when her children were young. Her first book - Lucy and Tom's Day - was published in 1960, and she followed it with, among others, Dogger and the Alfie series. Shirley Hughes has won the Other Award, the Eleanor Farjeon Award, and the Kate Greenaway Medal for Illustration twice, for Dogger in 1977 and for Ella's Big Chance in 2003. She was presented with the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance Children's Book Award in 2014, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2000. In 2007 Dogger was voted the public's favourite Greenaway winner of all time. Hughes received an OBE in 1999 for services to Children's Literature, and a CBE in 2017. She was also the first recipient of BookTrust's Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Thank you Shirley for the joy you have given to millions of us. Sleep tight.

Photo Credit: Lizzie Mayson