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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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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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You can normally judge a vintage Ladybird by its cover. For many years the standard approach was to use an illustration from inside the book on the cover. But some Ladybird books really under-sold themselves on the shelf. This is…
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The lovely Kate Garner has written this catchy song which pays homage to the ‘well loved’ books of her childhood. I’ve added a gallery of all the books that she mentions – so you can play the song and click…
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Not many of us like the sound of their own voices, do we? But in this podcast, recorded recently during (what number are we at now?) the second lockdown, you get not only my voice but the warm, gravelly tones…
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For reasons which I won’t dwell on, I’ve enjoyed escaping into Ladybird Land this year as never before. Every December since I started tweeting about Ladybird books, I’ve offered the nation a Ladybird Advent Calendar on Twitter. In true Ladybird…
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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）…
Read moreI received this ‘video response’ today to a Ladybird Book themed video on YouTube. This captures so well the power that a well-pitched, well-written, beautifully illustrated book can have on a child.
Read moreIf that means anything to you, you may have been in the Puffin Club as a child. Or perhaps you still are 🙂 This weekendI read an article on Puffin Books, and for many of us, there is a real…
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