Standing in his pyjamas in the garden in the morning sunshine, Alfie is an unmistakeable little figure. Shirley Hughes has an extraordinary understanding of children, their world and what matters to them and captures it beautifully in the turn of a head or the position of hands or feet. In this new book Alfie is helping his dad with the gardening, planting seeds and waiting – impatiently – for his carrots to grow, though he’s not planning to eat them himself! Parents and children will recognise themselves in Shirley Hughes’s gorgeous, detailed illustrations, which have a unique timeless quality, and this is a book to treasure. ~ Andrea Reece
