Axel Scheffler picks his favourite books

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

William Steig, 1969

New Yorker cartoonist William Steig’s picture books are all wonderfully told and often deal with transformations: such as what do you do if you find yourself being turned into a pebble. I love the expressions Steig puts into his creatures with simple, perfect lines, and how animals stand in for humans. My hero!

The Shrinking of Treehorn

Florence Parry Heide and Edward Gorey, 1971

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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 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.