An exhibition has just opened in Winchester (it is on until 18 August, details here), curated by Nicolette Jones and lent by the House of Illustration, about the life and work of Raymond Briggs. His Ethel and Ernest (1998) would be one of our desert island books and naturally we sell it in the shop. For those who haven't read it, it tells the story of Briggs's parents from 1928 to 1971; Ethel and Ernest is a great and enduring classic and an unforgettable homage to parenthood and to qualities like decency, good nature, 'mustn't grumble', uncomplaining hard work, attributes that we used to think of, proudly, as British but in the last four years our belief system has been destroyed.