A Ladybird Second Picture Book, Series 704, 1970

The 5 Picture Books, series 704, is one of the more nostalgic and evocative of series of Ladybird books.  I’ve always maintained that classic Ladybird books, whether they were writing about how the hovercraft works or teaching a baby to count, were essentially picture books.  The picture on the right-hand side of the page had to do most of the heavy lifting, to draw the reader in to the content of the text on the left.  Obviously, in this series the artwork really is the star of the show – the text just consists of a word or two.  But boy does artist Harry Wingfield rise to the challenge!  These illustrations surely represent some of his finest work.  All the domestic, everyday (in 1970s) objects depicted are stunning.  Harry doesn’t just paint an egg-cup, he paints the most enchanting, desirable, friendly egg-cup in the history of the world.  No photograph could ever come close.

What’s more, wife Ethel Wingfield was the brains behind this series – conceiving the layout and choice of objects. So it really is an E & H Wingfield tour-de-force.

This copy

It’s hard to find early copies of these books that have not been loved-to-death by their very young readers.  This matt copy is in sound but well-worn condition.  The covers are rubbed, a bit soiled and faded.  Inside the pages are well-turned and with the odd mark, blemish or crease so fair to good.  This copy has the original cover design – it was later updated to show a kitten on an orage background – and dates to the 1970s and has the original price of 40p on the back.