Author and illustrator Shirley Hughes was born near Liverpool, U. K. on July 16, 1927. She studied drawing and costume design at Liverpool School of Art and the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford. At first she was an illustrator of other authors works, but in 1960 she published Lucy and Toms Day, which was the first book she wrote and illustrated. Since then she has written and illustrated over 50 books. She won the Kate Greenaway Medal for Dogger in 1977, the Eleanor Farjeon Award for distinguished services to childrens literature in 1984, and the OBE for services to childrens literature in 1998. She currently lives in London with her husband.