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…
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 moreI’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…
Read moreLast Monday (16th October) I headed down to Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road to the event organised by Ladybird to publicise their new book “Boys and Girls” – a look at Childhood in the ‘golden years’ of Ladybird. I…
Read moreFirst of all I should say that I like Libby Purves. I think she is always witty and usually wise and often find myself in agreement with her. In the article she wrote recently in The Times recently, she makes…
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