“Tilly’s found the perfect hiding place to keep her special treasures. No one knows about it, not even her big brothers and sister, who know everything. But one day, something happens that Tilly could never have imagined…Jane Godwin and Anna Walker have created a wistful, enchanting and timeless story about an old house, a young girl, and how the small things we hold dear stay with us always.” - Readings Bookshop
‘The last drops of silvery summer fell into the palm of her hand.’
When I read the text by Jane Godwin, this is the page
in which I knew I couldn’t wait to illustrate this beautiful story.
“I grew up with three siblings. The youngest, Cait, had a bedroom that was a converted attic up in the roof of our old house. There was a wooden step up to Cait’s bedroom, which we all assumed was fixed to the wall and floor. Only six-year-old Cait knew that the step was freestanding and movable. She used to hide all her special treasures in the step, and none of us ever knew about it.
Then, just like in the story, one day we had the house re-carpeted, and carpet was laid over the step so that there was no access to it. Cait’s treasures were trapped!
She never told anyone about this until about eight years ago when she was in her early forties! We have visited that house in the last few years when it was open for inspection, and the same carpet is still over the step. Cait’s treasures are still there, all these years later.” – Jane Godwin
Tilly is a story inspired by something that
really happened in Jane Godwin’s house.
