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The fine weather cometh and what does that mean? Car boot sale season is upon us again. Last year was a bit of a wash out – too much rain, too many muddy fields, too few boot sales so I’ve…

Ladybird nostaligia – variations on a theme. Hope you enjoy it:

Martin Aitchison has just released another 9 pieces of original 1970s Peter and Jane artwork for sale on his website. You can see them here: www.MartinAtichison.co.ukThere are some really great one there. Also I have made a small clip about…

Last week the BBC forwarded on to me a letter from the son of George Murray, author of probably the rarest Ladybird Book for collectors: The Impatient Horse. It was a lovely letter and in it he mentioned the origins…

It was great fun being famous for a whole day or two! My son enjoyed being treated as a celebrity for about the same time. But I’m afraid my 15 minutes of fame seem to have worn off. On Monday…

We got a letter today from the BBC saying that there is to be a second programme made from the footage of the Modern Collectables edition of the Antiques Roadshow, filmed in the summer and that our clip is to…

Once upon a time … it was possible to walk into a secondhand bookshop and come across rows of lovely matt, 1960s Ladybird Books priced at 50p each. This was quite a few years ago, when I had just started…

I’ve just put together a new page in the ‘Artists’ section on the illustrator Frank Hampson. Frank was one of the small group of artists who, after war time service, worked for The Eagle comic before moving to Ladybird in…

To do something a bit different, I’ve made a video history of Ladybird Books in the 20th century – which you’ll find here: www.ladybirdflyawayhome.com/videos.htm It’s very homespun and you’ll need to turn the volume right up to hear it, but…

I’ve have a very Ladybird focused few weeks. I’ve been corresponding with an ex-employee of Ladybird, the son of a Ladybird artist and with a relative of Willima Murray (author of the Key Word Reader scheme), met some of the…