Top ten picture book characters

Shirley Hughes is one of the best-loved and most innovative creators of books for young children. She has written and illustrated over 50 books, sold more than eleven million copies, won major awards and created some of the most enduring characters in children's literature, including including Dogger, Alfie, and Lucy and Tom.

For the Guardian, she named her top 10 picture book characters.

One character on the list:

The Bear with Sticky Paws – Clara Vulliamy

When The Bear with Sticky Paws arrives at Pearl's house, chaos of one kind or another ensues. Clara Vulliamy can draw real children as convincingly as she can invent anthropomorphic animals, a rare quality in contemporary picture books. (I have to declare an interest here, as she is my daughter!) These stories explore Pearl's changing reactions to the engagingly maverick bear, who tears through the action with delicious abandon.

Read about the other picture books on Hughes' list.

--Marshal Zeringue