Mixed Veg is published by Whittrick Press (www.whittrickpress.com).
that it was like a city. It was almost like Alice In Wonderland, I’d walk through the gate and this sight would be before me. So when I got Sybil’s script I totally identified with it.
“I did sketches and drawings. Then I was heading off to Papua New Guinea to do voluntary service. I flew to Heathrow, met Sybil in the airport and handed over the completed illustrations.”
Sybil says she took the drawings to a publisher in London, who told her that it would be expensive to reproduce the illustrations.
Before they knew it, 40 years had passed. Then in 2013 Anne unearthed the illustrations and showed them to a few friends, who reached out to publisher Whittick Press.
“There is a biography at the end of the book which sums up perfectly the journey we have been on,” said Anne. “It explains the gap between the work being completed and being published.
“It is classic book, the artwork really reflects its time, which was the 1970s. It is totally authentic, nothing has been tampered with. Even the dungarees the young man is wearing are of that age. In a modern age of graphic design, with hand-drawn artwork it stands out. I’m delighted to see it in print. It is a book to be read. It really is a companion book.”
Sybil says the book might have been finished four decades ago, but it carries a moral lesson that is timeless.
“It’s meant to be fun,” she said. “But there are little gems of wisdom in there and some moral lessons, too, which are timeless, about accepting people who are different to you — and perhaps along the way learning the secret of life and to appreciate a little of what’s good for you.”