Five Little Kittens, 1955, Series 401

Five Little Kittens, 1955, Series 401

This was the penultimate of the Animal Rhyming stories of series of 401 – although it became the last in the series when the subsequent title ‘High Tide’ was dropped from the lists.  The 401 series is significant in the Ladybird story because these books were the first ones published in the format that was to become the classic Ladybird format: small size, with text on the left and a full-page illustration on the right. After the early 1940s, all the books in this series were written in jaunty rhyme by Walter Perring and were illustrated by Angusine Macgregor.  The effect of this rhyme was to lodge in the memory of the young child.  Ask anyone who enjoyed this book as a child and the chances are they can still quote parts of the rhyme decads later.

This copy:

Matt boards.  There are some crayon marks on the back cover, otherwise this book is in very good condition inside and out.  Only light wear and clean, fresh pages.  This book dates from around 1970 and has an original revised price of  12.5p on the back.