People in fashion: Sylvia Young's Soho boutique sells classical clothes for women with curves alongside pieces by young artists - rotten vegetables included. Linda Taylor reports

A Roundabout approach to literacy will go on show today when "Dougal Day" comes to town, to mark the reissue of Eric "father of Emma" Thompson's seminal work, The Adventures of Dougal. It's no dog's day afternoon for our hairy hero as a range of special bookshop events take place up and down the country. In London, Blackwells on Charing Cross Road provides the focus for the day's celebrations, encouraging fans large and small to write their own Dougal story and enter competitions to win T-shirts and other prizes, and taking pounds 1 off the price of Thompson's book (pounds 5.99). The store will also be giving away the secret of how to make your very own Dougal, Blue Peter-style, from a toothpaste box, as well as the recipe for Florence's Jumping Bean Cakes - a tasty alternative to sugar lumps.

POP

THE former drugs smuggler Howard Marks is to test a loophole in cannabis laws this weekend by offering himself for arrest for eating sandwiches made up of cultivated marijuana seeds.

Age: 144

The overwhelming success of Club Tropicana, the Cuban extravaganza at the Royal Albert Hall, has proven beyond doubt that Londoners can't get enough of that Latin vibe - but we've known that in clubland for many years now.

Date of birth: 11 March 1882.

Where do Herb Ritts and Mario Testino shop for fashion books in London? Zwemmer Media Arts, where Claire de Rouen has turned a niche market into a thriving business. James Sherwood meets her

1 BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Yearbook 1998, edited by Peter Nichols, (Oddball Publishing, paperback, pounds 13)

"I wish to place on record my astonishment upon being arrested on 28 January.

Knickerbox, the lingerie retailer which collapsed into administration just a few days before Christmas, has been acquired by the debt specialist Klesch Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum. Klesch is buying the business as a going concern and will take on all 27 branches in Britain, the 48 overseas franchises and all 200 staff.

Train attack

1 A Lot of Hard Yakka, Simon Hughes (Headline, hardback, pounds 16.99)

The book Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts has probably done more to dispel the clouds of misinformation and negative propaganda surrounding cannabis use in America than any other publication in the last 25 years. Now it is available in Britain and we have 200 copies to give away to IoS readers. Write in for your copy on a first-come-first-served basis. It is also available for sale from the Charing Cross branch of Waterstones at pounds 10.99.