Just this week everywhere I look online I seem to see reference to Ladybird Books – and the trumpeting that they are ” to drop gender branding from its books after almost 100 years”.: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30143662 If you search Twitter at…
Read moreIf you missed it last time, the BBC4 Timeshift documentary, The Ladybird Books Story, is due to be re-shown on Sunday (2nd Nov) at 7.pm. What a perfect way to spend a Sunday evening. Brian Cox and Human Universe? Strictly…
Read moreThe Ladybird Book Story is a new publication based on a PhD thesis by Lorraine Johnson and co-written by Brian Alderson; published by The British Library. Here’s a very quick summary of what I’m going to say for those who…
Read moreThe original Kenney versions and a 1978 version When I met John Kenney’s relative (see last post) she asked me whether Ladybird had ever published a book in the Robin Hood series called ‘The Spy’. The reason for this…
Read moreLast month I had a truly Ladybird-Geeky treat. I met up with Ladybird artist John Kenney’s closest surviving relative and, over a very pleasant lunch, enjoyed the pleasure of talking with someone who shares my passion for these pictures and…
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Last summer, when the programme makers of BBC4’s ‘The Ladybird Book Story’ came to film, I showed the director Jon Bentley’s ‘Peter and Jane’ inspired art: ‘The Lost Episodes’. She liked them as much as I do and took the…
Read moreWe’re lucky enough to live for part of the year in North Wales. Earlier this month I went to Anglesey, to the Oriel Ynys Môn Gallery to see the Ladybird Tunnicliffe exhibition that’s on till the end of the year. …
Read moreA few weeks ago, I was searching through my Ladybird Books, looking for a suitable picture to use for the commemoration of the D-Day Landings. It proved very hard to find anything – and reminded me how very few pictures…
Read moreWhat do you do with a lovely old Ladybird Book that is totally clapped out and unusable? I mean, scribbles on pages, missing pages … beyond redemption? Do you, like me, still find it hard to throw them away? The…
Read moreRecently I’ve been having a lot of fun sending daily tweets along the lines of: on this day in history … I find a historical fact and then illustrate it with a relevant picture from a Ladybird Book. Here’s are…
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