Were you nervous about illustrating a book by Lauren Child, when her fans might expect her to illustrate? Yes, that did cross my mind, as I am not at all stylistically like her, and I feared some might say “What a letdown. What a bad attempt at a

with mirth as I do so because it’s such an amusing subject, even when you’re 49.Junior: What inspired the book? JW: What with all the bad news and all the worthy tomes, I just felt like saying Bottoms to it all. Toddlers are forever being told what to do

.99) and Slightly Invisible (Orchard, £7.99), but there are also many Charlie and Lola spin-off books from the television programme. Lauren’s latest novels feature Ruby Redfort, the detective who first appeared in her Clarice Bean books. She has also collaborated

– and became firm friends, mutual admirers, and are now collaborating on a quirky book, Maude The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton (Puffin, £15).The central protagonist is a young girl, Maude, a shy, retiring misfit in a family of attention-seeking show-offs who

illustrated (he is adverse to calling it a children’s book, as he believes its appeal is ageless), it was a nerve-wracking process. "I dealt with the text and the publisher, and we went backwards and forwards for six months. It was a real collaboration," he

to be on duty over Christmas. I felt a deep sense of gratitude and wanted to share this feeling with everybody. I wanted to remind everybody about these people.2) Are you a parent yourself? What do your children think about the book? I have a daughter called