'It was me or the sunshine', began Korky Paul, jokingly shaking his head at the not-quite full room. With a city stuffed full of music and Morris dancing this weekend, there was an awful lot of competition for events attracting families. A good number had chosen to come to the Story Museum to hear from the popular illustrator.

Many of the young audience certainly knew Korky's characters, down to the colour of their stripy socks (brilliantly, Korky was wearing Winnie the Witch striped socks!). There was a real buzz in the room, which was increased by the 'magic' raffle tickets given to every child on their way in. Some lucky youngsters took home Korky Paul original sketches; others were given a signed book. The parents of anyone not lucky enough to win seemed pleased that there was a book signing stall available afterwards.

Essentially, this was an hour's masterclass with the well-known illustrator. With a natural ease, he shared tips and hints for creating characters and for getting better watercolour effects, enjoying the 'happy accidents' that occurred along the way. One drip of blue became a sea frame around The Fish Who Could Wish. There was plenty audience participation, with the children invited to imagine new creatures, to show off their writing on the sketch pad and, of course, to claim their prizes.

'What school do you go to?' 'Botley!' 'St Andrews!' 'I'm from Swindon!' The answers various from the youth of Oxford and further afield showed just how well loved Korky Paul's illustrations are and quite how far people were prepared to travel to meet him. Safe to say they were not disappointed! A story reading and drawing demonstration would've been good enough. The audience involvement and generous sharing of musings on character creation and drawing really made this a cracker of an event.

The 6 year old's verdict:

It was super fantastico! I wish I had won a drawing, but I loved seeing him make up a new creature. I want to do that when I get home.