The award-winning illustrator of "The Gruffalo" and "Zog" chooses five favourites. His new picture book, "Welcome", is out now, with a donation to the non-profit Three Peas for every copy sold.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
The Shrinking of Treehorn
Florence Parry Heide and Edward Gorey, 1971
This story perfectly portrays the feeling of powerlessness in childhood. Little Treehorn finds himself shrinking – no magic potions involved – and nobody cares... least of all his parents. Still, it’s a humorous story with exquisite drawings by Gorey.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Member of the Wedding
Carson McCullers, 1946
My number one coming-of-age story. I still have my 1974 German edition. Frankie is a 12-year- old girl in the American south and McCullers beautifully describes the pains, dreams and feeling of exclusion that can come with growing up. There are very sad moments, but it ends with "an instant shock of happiness". I wonder what kind of adult Frankie might have become – hopefully one with a happier life than her creator.
Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad
Daniel Finkelstein, 2023
I'm deeply worried by the lack of knowledge of the horrors of the 20th century and shocked by the rise of antisemitism. Finkelstein's grandparents experienced both at first hand. This is their story and everybody should read it.
Map: Collected and Last Poems
Wisława Szymborska, 2015
My favourite poet and the worthy winner of a Nobel Prize. This wise Polish woman covers the spectrum of all things human, and her poems are full of wonder. Probably a good book to have on a desert island.
-
‘The West needs people’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Filing statuses: What they are and how to choose one for your taxesThe Explainer Your status will determine how much you pay, plus the tax credits and deductions you can claim
-
Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency – an ‘engrossing’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends All 126 images from the American photographer’s ‘influential’ photobook have come to the UK for the first time
-
Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency – an ‘engrossing’ exhibition
The Week Recommends All 126 images from the American photographer’s ‘influential’ photobook have come to the UK for the first time
-
American Psycho: a ‘hypnotic’ adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis classicThe Week Recommends Rupert Goold’s musical has ‘demonic razzle dazzle’ in spades
-
Properties of the week: houses near spectacular coastal walksThe Week Recommends Featuring homes in Cornwall, Devon and Northumberland
-
Melania: an ‘ice-cold’ documentaryTalking Point The film has played to largely empty cinemas, but it does have one fan
-
Nouvelle Vague: ‘a film of great passion’The Week Recommends Richard Linklater’s homage to the French New Wave
-
Wonder Man: a ‘rare morsel of actual substance’ in the Marvel UniverseThe Week Recommends A Marvel series that hasn’t much to do with superheroes
-
Is This Thing On? – Bradley Cooper’s ‘likeable and spirited’ romcomThe Week Recommends ‘Refreshingly informal’ film based on the life of British comedian John Bishop
-
A Shellshocked Nation: Britain Between the Wars – history at its most ‘human’The Week Recommends Alwyn Turner’s ‘witty and wide-ranging’ account of the interwar years
