Most people come to vintage-Ladybird-appreciation after using the books in childhood. A few people come to appreciate them as adults. But one of the strangest routes I’ve yet come across is via an Indonesian biscuit tin. Last month a lady…
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I know the saccharine sweetness of the book cover above will be too much for some people, but this book should be a special one to Ladybird book collectors and is particularly significant to me. Let me explain why. 1）…
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Charles Tunnicliffe – by close friend and fellow-artist Kyffin Williams. I thought I would share it here (lightly abridged) because it offers a beautiful and personal insight into the man and his work
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Part of the pleasure of re-reading the ‘People at Work’ books today is that, unlike so many Ladybirds which dealt with fiction, history or Nature – their stated aim was to show children contemporary, urban Britain. But when the contemporary…
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All the time I have been interested in the history of Ladybird Books I have known the story of the Ladybird book commissioned by the M.o.D. The story goes that the book was published with plain boards before being issued…
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Last week, on the anniversary of Howard Carter first looking into the tomb of Tutankhamun and glimpsing “Wonderful Things!” – I tweeted a suitable illustration from Ladybird book (of course). But just the week before, I had had my own…
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During the course of the exhibition in Leicester, I was contacted by two or three ex-employees of Ladybird books. One of these was Gordon Hill, who worked as a lithographic printer for Ladybird (Wills & Hepworth) between 1966 and 1977…
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Roger Hall was born in 1914. He began his career at a tender age, painting publicity images for front of house displays in cinemas from the age of 15. He was a self-taught artist and would spend his weekends studying…
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