Hannibal goes to School, 1978

The Hannibal the hamster books are, in my opinion, forgotten gems.  The covers have a very 1970s look to them with rather ugly orange spines (sorry – I don’t like orange) but the books inside are illustrated by Ladybird golden-age artist John Berry and have all the quality you’d expect from his work.  They are written by Raymond Howe. The books are a lovely blend of fact-filled story-telling – so educational but also engaging.   Hannibal keeps escaping from his owners and having adventures among the flora and fauna of Britain before getting home again to his nice warm cage.  Berry based many of his illustration on this family, home and children.

This copy

Hannibal goes to School was the 5th of the 6 books in the Hannibal the Hamster series.  This was one of the later series of books added to series 497 (which began much earlier – in the 1940s)

This copy is worn, with marks to the cover, edge wear and a small pen mark to the front – but very good, clean pages inside.  It is ready to be read and enjoyed by another generation.  It dates to the late 1970s and has the original price of 50p on the back