Digby O'Day: In the Fast Lane by Shirley Hughes & Clara Vuillamy, 96 pp, RL 2

The first book in the series, Digby O'Day: In the Fast Lane, introduces us to the main characters and the world they live in. In fact, the first two pages of this heavily and wonderfully illustrated book look like the feature pages of a magazine where an interesting person is being interviewed. We find out Digby's favorite color, favorite biscuit (cookie), most prized possession and most extravagant purchase, which was "fifty-four bow ties! They were on sale, though." We also learn that his ideal evening is supper on a tray in front of the television with his best buddy Percy, watching a cooking show. Next, we are treated to a photo-album like page that introduces the "rest of the gang" and a two page map showing the villages of Dodsworth and Didsworth and the surrounding environs.
At this point, Hughes could have written a story in which Digby and Percy do just about anything and Vuillamy could have illustrated them doing this kind of anything and I would be completely enthralled. However, together they have created a character and story that will appeal to boys and girls and keep new readers tracking and turning pages.

As you may have noticed, the title of the above book is "Dixie O'Day," not Digby. Apparenetly the publisher decided to change the names of the characters to suit the country of publication. In the photo above, Clara Vuillamy shares (on her adorable blog, Sunny Side Up,)the Dutch, French and Turkish editions of the books in which Dixie becomes "Leon Klaxon" (French) and Percy becomes "Dinky,"(Dutch).
And, finally, besides being a great artist, Clara is crafty as well. Enjoy these snaps of Digby & Percy enjoying a picnic on the beach in Brightsea, the setting of the next book!
And be sure to check out Clara's other adorable books featuring Martha & the Bunny Brothers!
And definitely don't miss her tutorial on how to make felt bunnies!