Winnie and Wilbur: Winnie the Witch 35th Anniversary Edition

A letter from author Valerie Thomas

Dear Reader,

I can hardly believe that it’s thirty-five years since I first thought of Winnie and Wilbur. The story just popped into my head like magic. And although there have been so many more Winnie and Wilbur stories, this first one is still my favourite.

Since Winnie and Wilbur first met, they have had many amazing adventures. I have always loved to travel, and Winnie has often travelled for me. When Winnie said she had always wanted to see a giraffe in the wild, that was really me talking. Now Winnie has seen the giraffe, but I am still waiting for that experience.

However, I have been to Antarctica and Winnie hasn’t been there yet, although she has made a fleeting visit to the Arctic. And Winnie and Wilbur have zoomed up into space. I don’t think I’ll manage to do that. One of the lovely things about writing the Winnie and Wilbur stories is the letters and pictures I get from readers all over the world, in all the countries where the stories are published. Of course, in other languages Winnie and Wilbur have different names. In German they are Zilly und Zingaro, in Italian, Sibilla e Serafino, and in Spanish, Brunilda y Bruno! It’s wonderful to think of all these children enjoying the stories in their language and then writing to me to tell me what they think.

But the most magical aspect of Winnie and Wilbur is that after thirty-five years they haven’t aged at all. My hair has turned to silver, but Winnie doesn’t have a single grey hair. And Wilbur looks wonderful for a thirty-five-year-old cat. Let us hope that in another thirty-five years they will still be enjoying their magical lives.

Valerie Thomas 

And a message from illustrator Korky Paul

BLITHERING BROOMSTICKS!

Thirty-five years ago, back in 1987, who would have imagined that the Winnie and Wilbur books would be published in forty-four languages and sell nine million copies worldwide? That was the year when the late, great Ron Heapy, head of children’s book publishing at Oxford University Press, gave me a manuscript about a witch who lives in a black house with her black cat Wilbur.

I was so taken by Valerie Thomas’s enchanting tale of Winnie changing Wilbur’s colours with her magic wand. As an illustrator, I was excited by the challenge of illustrating a witch’s black house with all its richness, textures and details using only hues and tones of blacks and dark blues. Traditionally, witches are drawn wearing pointy black hats, black flowing dresses and looking rather ugly, but Winnie loved magicking bright colours and this inspired me to dress her to reflect this—where the brainwave of her signature stripy tights came from, I have no idea!

When I first drew Winnie’s hat I ran out of space on the paper, so I bent it to fit and planned to straighten it later. But, on reflection, I realised this added to her quirkiness. A happy but magical accident. I have hours of fun filling my intricate illustrations with silly humour and crazy details for readers to pore over. I am delighted that my drawings are used as inspiration for creative projects and love seeing children’s own pictures of Winnie and Wilbur.

Illustrating Valerie Thomas’s enchanting Winnie and Wilbur stories over the last thirty-five years has given me a cauldron-full of creative opportunities and many magic moments.

‘Purrrrr-fect…’ as Wilbur would say.

Korky Paul