That time of year again?
How did that happen?
Anyway, this year's quiz, in the true spirit of Ladybird, is non-competetive. There are no prizes on offer - except the prize of the warm flush of triumph which accompanies the knowledge that you know your Griffle from your Gruffle - as they say.
12 questions in total. I hope you enjoy it - click the picture below to play it:
Xmas Quiz
8 comments:
I've finally completed my collection of Series 497 - all with dustjackets, illustrated pen-and-ink endpapers & front boards with pasted-on colour pictures. They really are a glorious set of 10 books - The Wise Robin is a superb Christmas book & about 20 years ago it had a 'makeover' which seems scarcer than the original book! (Although the original book was in print for over 20 years.)
"about 20 years ago it had a 'makeover' which seems scarcer than the original book!"
What do you mean, Mike? What 'makeover'?
Congratulations on completing the set of original versions. A couple of them are very hard to find, aren't they? Especially the later ones - 'Cocky' and 'Water Vole'
Helen - in 1988 Ladybird reissued The Wise Robin as The Christmas Robin. The Book is wider than the normal size & Noel Barr's original story is 'adapted by David Hately' and PB Hickling's original artwork has been replaced by illustrations by Peter Stevenson.
I was lucky enough to find a copy by chance at a school Christmas Fayre about 15 years ago - I sent details to The Wee Web as Robert (?) seemed unaware of the book.
Incidentally on the site Bear Al I found some fascinating information about the author & artist of the Animal Series of books. (497)
A couple of titbits for you:(1) Noel Barr was really Dorothy Noel Barrow. She was born in Manchester (I had always thought that Noel Barr was a maan!) & originally submitted her own artwork whick Ladybird rejected. She never married .
(2) PB Hickling (1876-1951) was actually Percy Bell Hickling. Sadly he died before all the books in the Animal Series were published so he obviously submitted the artwork some time in advance. In fact, at least 4 of the series were published after his deat & a further 3 in the year of his death!
Ned the Lonely Donkey (1952), Mick the Disobedient Puppy (1952),Cocky the Lazy Rooster (1952) & The Sleepy Water Vole (1953)all appeared in print after Hickling's death. The latter 2 books are particularly difficult to find in good condition as they were not in print for long and were 2 of the 4 books that were 'dropped' when the series was trimmed to 6 books from 10 books.
Please feel free to use any of this information on your site - it has taken a long time to amass and I feel this series is not given enough credit by many collectors.
Well there are some real titbits in there, Mike. I lose interest in Ladybird after the 1980s (Puddle Lane notable exception)but I loved the info about NB.Many thanks. I will certainly use this - and credit!- as not everyone reads 'comments'. There's a little on Hickling here: http://bearalley.blogspot.com/2007/02/p-b-hickling.html
Apologies for the typos, Helen. The phone went twice while I was writing my comments. Apart from a couple of spelling errors, I meant to complete the website name which is Bear Alley but you obviously already knew of it.
Steve who runs it is a mine of information.
On Amazon they appear to be overrun with copies of The Christmas Robin with copies from as little as 1 penny each! A sound investment!
I agree that modern Ladybirds are not particularly interesting or even attractive but there are exceptions. Apart from The Christmas Robin, there is a most attractive update to Christmas Customs(1964) which was issued in 1988 - it has the same title & is definitely recommended. Another attractive 'modern' Ladybird is Religions of the World which was issued in 1996 & is a valuable teaching aid.
Incidentally, have you read any of the interesting Ladybird book reviews on Amazon? 2 that have caught my eye are by 'Book Beaver' & give glowing reviews to The Wise Robin and The Sleepy Water Vole. Ah nostalgia - it isn't what it used to be!!!
That's the premise on which this site is built!
Talking of 'The Christmas Robin', had you ever noticed 'Wonk' appearing in 'Kim meets Santa Claus' in the same series?
Happy Christmas, Helen. Keep up the good work! Unfortunately at least 3 well-established Ladybird Book sites have not been updated for years even though links to them exist on many sites. At least yours keeps the Ladybird wings flying!
Thanks! I'll try.
Happy Christmas
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