The Party, 1960 (scruffy)

The Party, series 563, is, for me, one of the most evocative of all Ladybird books.  It was written by child-education expert Margaret Gagg and beautifully illustrated by Harry Wingfield.   To my 5-year-old self this book was essence-of-aspiration.  The book tells the story of two children, John and Susan, who are invited to Ann’s birthday party.  The children walk unaccompanied to the party, play party games such as hunt-the-thimble and blind-man’s-buff and eat a homemade party tea.  Everyone behaves well.  No one cries and no-one deliberately bursts the balloons.  Ann is delighted with her gift (a Ladybird book and some pencil-crayons) and there are smiles all round.  But the outstanding feature for me – and for many of us – is the party clothes.  Ann has a yellow party dress with a big sash bow and shiny yellow party shoes.  Susan has the same but in blue.  I couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful than those party clothes.

In common with all the books in series 563, The Party was originally issued with a dustwrapper.

This copy:

As can be seen in the photos, this copy has a lot of problems – but most of these relate to the cover, not the contents.  It has lost its original DJ and has large pencil-crayon marks on the back cover as well as to the endpapers.  In addition there are a few minor marks and blemishes but the reading pages are generally in good shape with lovely, bright images.  Look at the photos carefully – they tell the story better than words.  But the short story is that this will is an affordable copy of a beautiful much sought-after title.