Note that at no stage did an adult jump in to save the day. Nor was an adult unrealistically cold — the lady at the toy stall genuinely didn’t understand what Dave was trying to tell her. This is a beautiful example of a story about an everyday event and everyday children. Although a possible moral might be, ‘Be nice to your brothers and sisters,’ Hughes avoids painting Bella as some sort of self-sacrificing do-good character by having her say that she never really liked the big teddy anyway. NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATION OF DOGGER This makes for a perfectly circular plot and an excellent bedtime story. Bella is turning somersaults, endearingly, and reassures Dave that she didn’t like that big teddy anyway because ‘his eyes were too staring’. Again, this is a beautiful use of childlike vocabulary, and the reader is left with warm feelings towards both Bella and Dave. The wordless final image shows the bedroom from the very same angle as the first view of the bedroom, with both children fast asleep. Dave is cuddling Dogger. As a counterpoint, the little girl with the bow in her hair and the dress behaves like a spoilt brat, with no empathy for Davey who has lost his precious toy. This little girl is a Spoilt Brat Trope, drawn to pretty and new things, and therefore assuaged with the promise of owning a brand new teddy bear. It does concern me slightly that the spoilt brat trope is usually a girl dressed like this which — Bella notwithstanding — can sometimes morph into femme phobia. This is a minor concern.

Hughes’ characters, too, have a ‘homely’ look to them. Even the faces of the children are rendered with inky lines that almost makes them look like old people. Hughes was definitely not a part of the new media trend, in which it is thought that children are drawn irresistibly towards characters with big eyes. What stands out to me reading this story from 1977, the height of second wave feminism, is that the character of Bella — apart from her feminine name and use of ‘her’ — looks no different from a boy. Comparing Bella to modern depictions of girlhood in picture books, today’s young readers are used to the convention that girls must look a certain way: They’ll probably be wearing an article of clothing that is pink. If represented by animals, the female animals will have heavier eyelashes, redder lips or a bow on their head. Yet apart from pink pyjamas, Bella is dressed androgynously — her femaleness is not important to the story — she is first and foremost a kindly older sibling, and I really appreciate this about the character. This is Hughes' most heartwarming picture book . . . Hughes has a kindly, inexhaustible eye - she misses nothing . . . Her drawing is invariably superb and usually describes a reassuring world for children - sometimes happier-than-thou. She has illustrated more than 200 titles - she is a virtuoso Kate Kellaway, Observer Family is a constant throughout many of Shirley Hughes' stories, with brothers and sisters introduced and featured as main characters within the the story. In 'Dogger' i could relate both to Dave and his love for dogger and Bella being the kind older sister - I wasn't always kind, but i was an older sister. Have YOU fallen prey to this toxic dating trend? Relationship experts lay bare the pitfalls of 'spider-webbing' - as they reveal how you can avoid becoming a victim of these VERY unhappy romances Story Books Story Titles A-D Dogger Story - Shirley Hughes Dogger Story - Shirley Hughes Primary ResourcesThankfully this heartwarming tale has a happy ending, the bond between a child and their favourite comfort toy should never be underestimated. Dogger is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Shirley Hughes, published by The Bodley Head in 1977. [3] Plot [ edit ] There is a 6 lesson plan for a short introduction to talk for writing in Year 1. The unit focuses on the immersion side of Talk for Writing and then there is one lesson for the children to have a go at innovating the story using post it notes and oral retelling. Now that the story is set up, Shirley Hughes makes good use of the rule of three, with a sequence of three embedded into another sequence of three. The family goes to the fair: I loved the description of Dave’s attachment to Dogger as I think this is something that every child can relate to and I myself laughed out loud when Dogger had to be washed and hung out to dry.

I don’t remember seeing a pristine copy of Dogger, ever. Our own copy as a child had been cancelled from a local library and was covered in yellowing sellotape. I still have that copy. Many years later, this is one of my six-year-old daughter’s favourite books. It is also the number one favourite book of the now 13 year old who waits at the same bus stop. In short, Dogger by Shirley Hughes is a timeless classic. What makes it so good? PLOT OF DOGGER Tributes flooded in for the writer online. Sir Michael said in a statement: 'We have all grown up with the stories and drawings of Shirley Hughes deep inside us. We've enjoyed them for ourselves, with our children, with our grandchildren.Love this story I used to work in a nursery, the children loved this book. The pictures are fantastic too a lot of detail. Going to collect the Shirley Hughes books for my daughter. The school community is also a central theme to the story with Dogger lost when they go to collect Bella from school and found at the school summer fete. The summer fete features many activities that were common place when i was at school but when i recently read this story to a small group of year 1 children I found myself having to explain many of the activities that are illustrated. The fashion is different as well and it makes a good starting point with younger children to get them to think about whether the story is set in the past or present. Sir Michael added: 'She is also a national treasure to parents, because many millions of them too have grown up with Shirley Hughes, and are now passing on their affection for her stories, her characters and her illustration, to their own children. BookTrust's first Lifetime Achievement Award could not be more richly deserved.' At that time, both his ears flopped over, but (Dogger) was pressed so lovingly against his owner's face that one ear was pushed upwards, so when I came to do the story I used him as a model.

Shirley Hughes is one of the best known and most popular creators of children's books of all time. She began to write and design her own picture books when her children were very young because she felt there was a gap in this form of literature. She is my favourite children's author, I read her books as a child, I have read them to my own children and I intend to read them to my own class. One of my favourites is the story of a soft brown toy called Dogger. Dogger belongs to a young boy called Dave who takes him everywhere with him. But one day Dogger gets lost and Dave is left really really upset and unable to sleep without him. The next day Dave and his family go to the school fair where Dave sees Dogger on sale for 5p, but he doesn't have enough money and is left heart broken when Dogger is bought by a little girl. His big sister comes to the rescue and swaps a giant teddy for her brothers Dogger, making Dave a very very happy little boy. A fantastic novel to share with children of all ages and a great discussion starter on the importance of kindness.

The activities provided are mainly those for rotation. An activity with the teacher, the teaching assistant and independent activities that the children will get to do all of over 2 lessons. There are two whole class activities. Historical fiction novelist Hazel Gaynor put: 'Thank you, Shirley Hughes, for so many precious hours with your stories and my small boys.' Throughout her career, Hughes illustrated some 200 children's books and accrued lifetime sales surpassing more than 10 million copies of her books. Teacher, 28, entrusted with pupil welfare 'had sex with vulnerable teenage girl, 16, after pressuring her to send him intimate photographs', court hears