Years ago, when the children were young we had lots of Ladybird Books . They were always around at jumble sales and cheap to buy. Mostly they were in the series of 'Well Loved Tales' or 'Children's Classics' We also had some of the 'People at Work' set, some of the bible stories and some on various subjects I found to use with my Cub Scout Pack.
Going back to many many years before and I remember being bought the Ladybird book of Queen Elizabeth I to help me with finding out about her for a primary school project. I had no idea who she was, I'd chosen to be in the group writing about her because I thought she was the present Queens mother.!(In my defence I was only 8 at the time.). We also had a few others - mainly the baby stories including some of the early ones like - Bunnikins Picnic Party.
About 15 years ago we were on holiday somewhere and I came across the set of "What to Look For" for the four seasons dating from the 1960's. The illustrations in these are famously by Charles Tunnicliffe, a well known Natural History Artist.
I thought I'd look out for some of the old Ladybirds that we didn't have and found this in a charity shop for 49p, some of the rarer, older Ladybirds are expensive second-hand online.
There is one form of Ladybird books that I really don't like - that's the recent "humourous" Ladybird books for Grown-ups......tacky. I think they are given as jokey Christmas presents - and are often in charity shops, so perhaps other people also don't like them much.
I found a list of all the original Ladybird books HERE
I had Bunnikins Picnic Party too. And the Queen Elizabeth one. Did I misremembered, or was one picture of her speaking to the troops at Tilbury? ("the body of a weak woman but the heart of a man" speech) I never liked the Peter and Jane reading books. Did you have the Things To Make Ladybird book? (toilet roll and cottonwool snowman etc) Happy memories
ReplyDeleteLove the Ladybird books :)
ReplyDeleteThose updated covers are interesting Sue - certainly more inviting.
ReplyDeleteWonderful books. They made such an impression that nearly 50 years later I still remember my earliest ladybird books, Ned the Lonely Donkey and The Wise Robin. They helped lead me to a lifetime of loving reading.
ReplyDeleteI can remember some of those but not the Countryside ones (which I would have loved as a child).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Angela that the Peter and Jane reading books were dull. I tried to get our son to read them as I taught them all to read in English, (they were only taught in Welsh at school) but he rejected them as boring too!!
Am I alone in preferring the original Tunnicliffe covers? although of course that wouldn't sell them to folk today. I wonder what the content is like?
I collected Tunnicliffe items years ago and have the Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter set of books. I took an interest in him because I lived for a short time near Malltraeth where he lived in later life. Some of the illustrations in these books are of places local to the village and my favourite is of the little church in the village, just yards from his house, with, if I remember correctly, swallows or swifts circling around. Lovely books which I still treasure to this day.
DeleteI love the Ladybird books and still have a lot of my daughter's from when she was little and I'm always on the look-out for others. There was a bigger book which I bought a few years ago which showed all the different series they produced and I gave that to my daughter. We have the complete set of Puddle Lane and the Glo Worm books.
ReplyDeleteLike you and I'm sure many others I don't like the modern ones.
Although I remember Ladybird books I did not have any of my own in the '50s. I think they must have been considered a bit expensive at the time when money was tight. I seem to have become more familiar with them as an adult and did buy one or two from charity shops although I have since given them back to charity. The reading books I had as a child were an encylopaedia of one volume, my father's atlas, one Lucie Attwell and every Christmas, a Christmas annual. Later I used to buy Puffin children's books.
ReplyDeleteI found the Lady Books were wonderful so different types of subjects for youngers. Like you Sue my husband and we found the books were so useful fir the cubs and my daughter used them at the guides meetings. It I remember I think they were less than a £1.0 each.
ReplyDeleteHazel 🌈🌈
When I was little (early fifties) they were 2/6, that's 12.5p.
DeleteHalf a crown in the '50s was a lot of money.
DeleteI think those modern Ladybird "funny" books are given by people DESPERATE to find a gift very quickly and they snatch it off a shelf and go for the plastic!
ReplyDeleteLadybird books were just the right length for a decent bedtime story and the rhythm of them was just right for sending a child off to sleep.
ReplyDeleteA friend bought "Piggly Plays Truant" for my youngest son's 1st birthday and he loved it so much, asking me to read it every night.
A few weeks later, my friend came for a coffee and catch-up. I told Peter that this was the lady who had given him his book, so he fetched it and 'read' it to her, word perfect. She was amazed that he could read at such a young age - until I revealed that he had memorised the words along with the accompanying picture! (I could never shorten his bedtime stories!)
I spent hours reading those books aloud years ago. Tiptoes the Mischievous Kitten, Smoke and Fluff and Tootles the Taxi were great favourites. They were easier to find in those days and I built up quite a collection. Most have gone but I have kept those four Tunnicliffe nature books because I love them. Perhaps these days old Ladybird books are for grownups?
ReplyDeleteIf you ever need a few hundred Ladybirds Sue. i had a phase , back when they were for sale for pennies ...lol ...
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with these books so we must not have had them in the U.S. They sound like wonderful books for children and I have always had a soft spot in my heart for children's books! We did have Little Golden Books that may have been similar. I had many of those and so did my children.
ReplyDeleteLots of memories of reading Ladybird books with my kids. I still have a few of them, much used, that are still read to my youngest grand children. "The Little Red Hen" especially.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading children's books to my son when he was little. Bedtime stories were very important and we rarely missed a night. I'm not familiar with Lady Bird books but they do sound wonderful. Lady Bird books dedicated to the changing seasons is a wonderful idea.
ReplyDeleteI still pull out an old favourite book or two from my childhood. Love to reread them as an adult.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Oh I had lots of Ladybird books growing up, I remember Chicken Liken and Five Little Kittens. My eldest daughter used to love the Puddle Lane books too
ReplyDeleteI've heard about that series but never seen photos. I like it!
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