Vicky Lilford – illustratör

The colour thief of Bristol is a book about two friends, Alba and Evie, who live in the colourful streets of Bristol. One day a mean looking man comes to their fun and vibrant school and visits their headmistress. After the visit she looks uncharacteristically angry and stern and then proceeds to take all the colour and fun out of their school. When they hear that something similar has happened at their friend's school, they race around Bristol following the man, hoping to stop him and return the colour to their school. They follow him through the city, bumping into more friends. After losing him on a hot air balloon they think of a way to find him again and then track him back to his house. Here, they discover that the villain, rather than being bad, was sad all along. He took the colour out of schools as the sound of children's laughter reminded him of his horrible childhood. Alba and Evie heal him with their warmth and the three of them return the colour to Bristol. This book considers how childhood shapes a person and invites the child to think about why someone may do bad things and to consider the healing effect of being around kindness and warmth.