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Don’t Want to Go! by Shirley Hughes

Published by The Bodley Head, 2010

Shirley Hughes’ latest picture book Don’t Want to Go, tells the story of a little girl Lily, who usually stays home with Mum suddenly finding out she has to spend the day at Melanie’s house.

Mum has woken up with flu and Dad has to go to work.

Read how Lily resolves her worries by first of all deciding to blot out the issue and then reluctantly, but very slowly, agreeing to stay with Melanie, even if for the first while, she sits under the kitchen table with her toy dog Bobbo.

Through a series of events Lily realizes that doing new things is not scary after all. She has such a fun-filled day with Melanie and her little boy Sam, that she completely forgets she doesn’t want to be there! When Dad gets home from work and comes to collect her Lily’s closing words of the book are “Don’t Want to Go”

All of Shirley Hughes’ picture books tap into the way small children feel about things with amazing accuracy.
Her famous characters including Alfie, Annie Rose, Lucy and Tom were born from her close observation of children over the years.

Her stories are those of the everyday dramas that impact upon a child's world, such as making friends with the big boys, or losing a favourite soft toy and the terrible upset it causes; little incidents that adults think nothing of but which are of enormous importance to little ones. Her characters are instantly recognizable, coming alive through the wonderful drawings of their creator.

Shirley Hughes was appointed OBE in 1999 for services to children’s literature, has won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal twice and her books have sold 11.5 million copies worldwide.