This is the story of why I have a portrait of a very serious, elderly stranger in prime position in my Ladybird bookroom – and why I am proud to be his guardian. Are you sitting comfortably? A long time…
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What bibliophile hasn’t dreamt of a magnificent library with wall to ceiling sliding ladders, nooks and comfy chairs? I got pretty close to my dream with my bookshed – which has sat in my garden being beautiful for the last…
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“Mum and Dad and Ladybird books” Ina and Jack Havenhand wrote the popular ‘People at Work’ series of Ladybird books, which were published between 1961 and 1973. The following was written for me by their son, Barry. “This note is…
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Coincidences – really nice ones – abound in Ladybird Land. I don’t know why and perhaps I don’t want to know why, in case the magic one day stops. But last week I heard of a really special coincidence –…
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There’s a much-loved book in Ladybird Land from 1960 called ‘The Party’ in which two young children go to their friend Ann’s birthday party. In the story, they give Ann a gift which she unwraps right away – and to…
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I love the original classroom posters that you can still occasionally find right at the back of school cupboards. Made to support the 1960s Peter and Jane Key Words reading scheme, they were the interactive whiteboard of their day. Collector…
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… in the form of an 11-minute interview Yesterday the latest showing of my exhibition ‘The Wonderful World of the Ladybird Book Artists’ opened at the Victoria Gallery in Bath. Just before it opened I was interviewed by a local…
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Collecting pre-1940s Ladybird books
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If you have been following the story, you know that the special M.O.D- commissioned Ladybird book is the holy grail of Ladybird book collecting – a book thought to exist but which has never been seen. The story so far…
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Jane – fictional heroine of the Peter and Jane reading scheme books – was my role model, growing up. In some ways we had a great deal in common: we were both born in the mid-1960s, we both had one…
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