encouraged her, supplying materials and drawing outlines for Shirley to colour; gradually as she grew older she found her own style. By the time she was in her teens she was regularly winning prizes at Eisteddfods; an item in a local paper when she was twelve notes prophetically that 'cats, dogs and fairy stories are among Shirley's favourite subjects for illustration. This was during the war years, and Guernsey was under German occupation. There were hardships; curfew, no radio or electricity, and often very little food. Fortunately Shirley's father was a gardener, and the family smallholding supplied most of their needs, with sometimes extra vegetables or eggs for barter - frequently for books! Every evening the family would sit around the hurricane lamp and Mrs. Machon would read 'until her voice gave out'. So Shirley and her younger sister had a rich literary, as well as

Islands are magical places, and Shirley Machon, growing up on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel, was always conscious of the special ness of her home place, whether walking down country lanes between banks of wildflowers, or climbing to a windy hilltop with the sea all around her. The little triangular island, only 15 km, on its longest side, has belonged to England since the Norman Conquest, and many stone buildings date from the 11th century. It is an island rich in beauty, with its thatched cottages set in fairytale gardens, ferny dells and rippling streams, and has long been a favourite spot for artists and authors; Victor Hugo had a house on the island, and the annual Eisteddfod still draws visitors from far and wide. Shirley's mother and grandmother were both well known local artists, specializing in portraits and flower studies, and the little girl always knew she would be on too. Her mother