Shirley Hughes looks smashing at 80. And so does her ongoing work. To celebrate her birthday, Random House Children's Books, Egmont, Hachette and Walker hosted a drinks and canapes evening in the Senior Common Room at the Royal College of Art. Understandably, a solid core of Britain's finest children's book writers and artists turned out to celebrate Hughes' illustrious career, as did her children and several of her grandchildren. One had the sense that Hughes was truly loved, not just for her remarkable career, but for the goodness and warmth of her personality.

Philip Pullman introduced Hughes with a short talk, listing three things for which he holds her in such high esteem: First, her technical skill and ability to use space well on a page; second, the accuracy of her work, how she keenly captures both historical details as a s sort of social record, and 'little details of life that are absolutely right. The way childrens' feet turn toward each other when they're sitting down... little bits of truthfulness.' And third, Pullman said that a person's work reveals the 'sum of their deepest values... otherwise you'd be doing something trivial, and you can't do something trivial for years on end.' He felt Hughes work reveals 'the most enormous unbounded affection... for everything she sees... It's a great compliment to us, because she's drawing us, and therefore we are loved.'

Hughes gave a brief slideshow of some key pieces of work from her career. She began with Dogger, who first appeared in 1977 and this year won the Kate Greenaway Medal on the award's 50th anniversary. She mentioned her love of drawing old, misshapen toys, 'especially those knitted by an old lady'. She finished with some black and white drawings from  Up and Away'  saying she considered wordless books 'the ultimate challenge', and to look out for another one coming soon. Claire Hall-Craggs from Random House presented her with a bouquet of flowers and the group applauded their affection. The event was run by ever efficient publicist Philippa Perry. Spotted in the room were Colin McNaughton, Michael Foreman, Raymond Briggs, Jaqueline Wilson, Pat Hutchins, Posy Simmonds, Jane Ray, Anthony Browne, Fritz Wegner and Emma Chichester Clark.

Written by Sarah McIntyre

Picture by Sarah McIntyre