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Let’s be honest, in this sad and sorry world, there’s not a lot of work out there for a Ladybird book consultant. But they say every dog has its day. Sometimes a commission comes along that matches a niche interest…
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‘Battle of Britain’ and ‘Shackleton’ In common with Basil Fawlty, golden-age Ladybird books try not to mention the war. This to some extent reflects the spirit of the age – of the 1950s to 70s – to look forward, not backwards,…
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Facts, thoughts and Ladybird Experts In some ways, the timing couldn’t have been better. Just as everyone was talking about facts and alternative facts and the state of the world ‘post-fact’ – just when Trump draws our attention to climate…
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Martin Aitchison, died this week at the age of 96. You might not know his name, but if you are reading this post, there’s a good chance you remember some of his illustrations for Ladybird Books. Until this week I…
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It’s easy to get a bit sentimental over many of the golden-age Ladybird book illustrators and lose sight of the fact that they were busy working people, just earning a crust. For the most part, the artists don’t seem to…
Read moreJohn Berry and his work for Ladybird books. (Part one is here) As I said in my last post, the People at Work series was one of the first Ladybird series I remember. The first 7 titles represent for me…
Read moreThe thing about Ladybird Books … well, one of the things … there are a lot of things … but one of my favourite things about Ladybird Books is the way they capture domestic scenes in snapshot. Details of 20th…
Read moreFor me, John Berry is right up there with the very best illustrators. Although I’ve always enjoyed his artwork, he is another of the Ladybird artists that I’ve grown into more as I’ve got older. One reason is perhaps because his books are among…
Read moreSomething I find fascinating is when photographs come to light that were used by Ladybird artists as studies for their artwork. Here’s one that appeared on Twitter (via @russellsdesk) a couple of months ago – along with the image from…
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Not long ago, I wrote about what it was that had led me to enjoy and appreciate the Ladybird artwork of C F Tunnicliffe. So, in a similar vein, here’s a very personal introduction to John Kenney. (This isn’t a…
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