Mother and Child Treasury

Hughes has put together a collection of stories and poems loosely centred on mothers and their children. From Moses to Milly-Molly-Mandy to Anne Fine's contemporary working mother; from traditional rhymes via Milne to Colin McNaughton and Michael Rosen, this is a lively anthology with various aspects of childhood represented. The illustrations are by Hughes' daughter, Clara Vulliamy, who is at her best illustrating Eleanor Farjeon's 'The Sea-Baby' where beautiful watercolour washes and subtle colours offset the tendency to cuteness found in her round-faced, doe-eyes characters. I found her new illustrations of 'Milly-Molly-Mandy and Ameliaranne which are derivative of the originals without adding anything new particularly irritating. A reasonable anthology with lots of potential