The Circus Comes to Town, 1957 (scruffy, missing DJ)

The Circus Comes To Town was the 10th book to be published in series 413 – the second series of Ladybird books ever produced.  The 413 series is quite a  random mixture of tales and rhymes – but all for pre-school children.  The best bit about the book are the wonderful John Kenney illustrations.  The book features two children who go to the circus.  That was a typical format for Ladybird at this stage – two children sharing a simple experience through pictures.  What’s notable about these two children is that they were called Peter and Jane.  Not THE Peter and Jane, who were later to star in their very own reading scheme – but  it would seem that the names lodged in the head of Douglas Keen.  Keen, in 1957, was the rising-star employee of Wills & Hepworth  – who would later go on to commission the Key Words reading scheme – the Peter and Jane books.

In common with all the books in series 401, the first edition of this book had 3 extra pages.  Later editions dropped these pages.

This copy is missing its original dj and is in fair to good condition.  There’s a scribble on the back cover, a crack in the joint and some loose stitching – leading to some sections beginning to come away.  That said, the binding overall still seems secure and the pages are clean so it would make a good reading copy.