Lily's favourite toy, Blue Kangaroo, begins to feel threatened by a crowd of new cuddly toys, one of which can just be glimpsed behind Aunt Jemima's back. At night, Blue Kangaroo is plagued by worry, but by day his and Lily's shared world is a cheery riot of colours and patterns. Chichester Clark's illustrations convey a reassuring domesticity, laced with humour. Note the expressive face of the often-present tabby cat.
Photograph: Harper Collins Photograph: Action images
When night falls, deep blue and purple shadows suffuse the Lily's bedroom, perfectly capturing the little kangaroo's blue mood, as he makes off through the door, having been pushed out of bed. The transformation from day to night is complete in this central sequence of pictures
Photograph: Harper Collins Photograph: Action images
Little Green Croc arrives in the city on his mission to see Father Christmas at the big department store. There's an innocent optimism in the way he carries himself, snout pointed upwards. Chichester Clark uses sombre colours, and draws the animals in a soft pencil line, making their loneliness all the more touching.
Photograph: Harper Collins Photograph: Action images
Brightness and colour burst from the page in this illustration of Christmas Eve morning. Rosy-cheeked passers-by cheerfully go about their last-minute Christmas shopping as Croc arrives at Harridges department store. Note the cheerful curlicues which border the entrance and are repeated throughout the book.
Photograph: Harper Collins Photograph: Action images
With a look of concern, the manager informs Croc that he is too late to see Father Christmas. The bustling store filled with tall characters serves only to highlight the little Croc's plight – standing alone at the centre of the scene. When asked why a crocodile? Chichester Clark replied that she "needed something green".
Photograph: Harper Collins Photograph: Action images
Melrose and Croc wake up at Melrose's new place on Christmas morning, having made friends at the ice rink and spent Christmas Eve together. As their newfound friendship unfolds, a golden light replaces the darker colours of the earlier scenes. Intead of a typical Christmas backdrop of pines, Chichester Clark boldly draws a palm tree in a seaside town, yet the festive atmosphere is perfectly evoked.
Photograph: Harper Collins Photograph: Action images
In retelling this classic story, Chichester Clark was fulfilling a lifelong ambition to illustrate a character that as a child she aspired to be. Her imagery of Alice owes much to the original Tenniel illustrations. Here, Alice falls slowly down a rabbit hole that looks like an eccentric collector's den.
Photograph: Harper Collins Photograph: Action images
Alice and her newly-acquired travel companions – mouse, duck, dodo, eaglet and lory – swim in her salty tears. Their peeved expressions are captured perfectly. No matter how comic the animals portrayed, Chichester Clark always observes them affectionately and without ridicule. Her children, meanwhile, are drawn with a charm and economy that recalls the Madeleine books that inspired her.
Photograph: Harper Collins Photograph: Action images
Alice's tea party with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare comes to an abrupt end as the pair get up and run round the table. They're captured in mid-run, and their characters emerge strongly from the March Hare's determined and slightly cross expression and the Mad Hatter's cheery grin...
Photograph: Harper Collins Photograph: Action images
