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…
Read moreIt 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…
Read moreWe 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…
Read moreOnce 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…
Read moreI’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…
Read moreIt will come as no surprise to long-standing LB book collectors to hear that this year Nicole (from Australia) was the first to crack the Christmas quiz. (Answers from two other continents followed swiftly behind hers). But Nicole wins back…
Read moreThis year’s Ladybird Christmas Quiz is here:If you’ve got a decent collection of Ladybird Books to consult (or don’t mind having a few guesses) have a go. Having completed the quiz, the first letter of every correct answer, when correctly…
Read moreTo 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…
Read moreI’ve just put the (almost) finishing touches to a brand new gallery of artwork by the wonderful Ladybird Book artist, Martin Aitchison. Martin, now 88, was one of the most prolific of Ladybird’s artists during the ‘golden years’ of the…
Read moreI am delighted to have recently acquired the rather odd-looking book in the picture. It was owned (and probably made) by William Murray – author of the Key Word Reading schemes: Peter and Jane and ‘Read with Me’. It’s a…
Read more