Anyone who has ever read a children’s book will most likely know who Helen Oxenbury is or at least of heard of a few of her books. In A Life in Illustration, we get to take a look at Helen’s life and that of her children’s books and the illustrations that she drew to accompany them.

The book is split into different eras in time beginning with 1957-1962 as she begins the career that will last her a lifetime. The book tells you the story of Helen’s life and has lots of accompanying artwork, including private family photos, her illustrations and even photo’s of clay models of her characters.

The book also tells you the story of Walker Books, one of the most famous children’s books publishers and how Helen helped them to get to where they are in the publishing world today.

I’m not normally a lover of memoirs but having read plenty of Helen’s children’s books I was interested to know more about the woman behind the stories.

It is a big, heavy book but boy is it filled to the brim with something interesting on every page. Helen has had an incredible life and is loved by many, including a few who have taken the time to write about her.

The book was a real delight and eye-opening. I really did enjoy every page.