What a beautiful sight!
These are two pieces of original Ladybird artwork which I acquired recently.
I've picked up lots of different pieces over the years, but none has ever quite hit the Ladybird spot the way these two do. One is a Peter and Jane classic from the 1960s book 2a, We Have Fun and the other is the cover illustration for the 1970s version of 'Boys and Girls'.
Somehow - the colours and the detail and the memories - they cheer me up every time I turn round from my computer and look at them. Pure escapism. In a week of worldwide disaster and tragedy, of talk of recession and of 'toxic childhood' it's very comforting to escape briefly into the illusion that is Ladybird Land.
2 comments:
What cheers me about that photo is the view of the bookshelf behind with the rainbow of Ladybird spines, no dents, torn-off bits or crayon scribbles visible - unlike my collection of a mere dozen treasured titles.
Hi Richard
Your description of your collection sounds like mine to start with. If I wanted a particular book, I was happy to get it in any sort of condition. But as I collected over the years I ended up upgrading and upgrading.
If the battle scars of your 'treasured titles' are your own doing - the use and abuse inflicted when you were young, then I congratulate you. How many of us manage to hang on to these books right the way through childhood and beyond? Just about everyone I know has to rebuild a Ladybird colletion, years after their own copies went to the jumble sale.
Only one book has stayed with me from childhood to the collection in the background of this picture. Dog-eared and defaced as this book is, it's still the aristocrat of my collection.
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