Category
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…
Read more
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 –…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
If you were going to appoint a governement made up of Ladybird book characters, who would you choose? Here’s my top team: Chancellor of the Exchequer: The Ogre from Jack and the Beanstalk. Keeps tight control of financial affairs –…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
This is a story I have been given permission to share – although I don’t know the name of the original narrator:
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more