She has been called an "enormously influential children's editor" and "brilliant as an innovator of highly successful marketing strategies".

Webb herself described her time there as "bullied, miserable, had jaundice", but was inspired and encouraged by the teacher of English, Ben R. Gibbs, author of textbooks about literature and history.

[2][3] She left the school in 1930, and although Gibbs had suggested that she go on to university, she was sent by her parents to stay with a family in Bruges, Belgium, to be "finished".

[2] During the Second World War, Webb volunteered as "an ambulance driver, air-raid warden, canteen worker and member of the Fleet Street Women's Rifle Brigade".

[5] She remained at Lilliput until her marriage in 1948, after which she began working freelance, writing features for the News Chronicle and broadcasting on Woman's Hour, among other commissions.

[2] Webb's archive and working library are held in the Seven Stories centre for children's books collection, based in Newcastle upon Tyne.