Hooray for the Antiques Roadshow!

We got a letter today from the BBC saying that there is to be a second programme made from the footage of the Modern Collectables edition of the Antiques Roadshow, filmed in the summer and that our clip is to be featured! This might only mean a 20 second snippet or the whole of it - I don't know. But my son is delighted!

So finally, dear reader, our moment in the sun (and the wind and the rain) at Bexhill on Sea is to be shared with the nation on Sunday 17th of February.

The joy of Sussex!

Cinderella has a ball in charity shop

Once upon a time ... it was possible to walk into a secondhand bookshop and come across rows of lovely matt, 1960s Ladybird Books priced at 50p each. This was quite a few years ago, when I had just started collecting.

Now it's pretty rare to come across a shelf-full anywhere at any price. But some charity shops are more enlightened in Ladybird Lore than others and know not to throw out matt cover gems just because they aren't in perfect condition or with a wipe-clean surface.

The shop in the picture is 'Oxfam Books and Music' in West Market Place, Cirencester in the Cotswolds, a stone's throw from the parish church in the centre of town. They have a lot of very good condition early Well-loved Tales for sale as well as good clean copies from other popular series.

Not at 50p each of course, but it's a good cause.

Frank Hampson

I've just put together a new page in the 'Artists' section on the illustrator Frank Hampson. Frank was one of the small group of artists who, after war time service, worked for The Eagle comic before moving to Ladybird in the 1960s.

But before working on this page, I hadn't realised how instrumental Hampson had been in the very creation of The Eagle and how central a role it played in his life as an artist. Hampson is best known for Dan Dare - the character he created from the very birth of The Eagle. By comparison, Hampson's work for Ladybird was less all-consuming - perhaps a way to pay the bills when he felt forced to leave The Eagle. But the artistic freedom he had enjoyed producing comic-strips led him to take a very unusual approach to some of the more 'mundane' topics he illustrated for Ladybird. He often illustrated scenes from a very unexpected perspective - giving his books a rather surreal appeal.

The most creative Ladybird commission he got was to illustrate the three 1960s Nursery Rhymes books. Hampson's unconventional approach either appealled strongly to children - or rather scared them. I was in the latter camp, personally - but lots of people seem to recall these books with great affection and they are getting harder and harder to find now.

And the winner is ...

It will come as no surprise to long-standing LB book collectors to hear that this year Nicole (from Australia) was the first to crack the Christmas quiz. (Answers from two other continents followed swiftly behind hers). But Nicole wins back her tinsel crown for another year.

The answers were:

Christmas Carol: Memory
Our Land ...: Anglo-Saxon
Weather: Rainfall
Mick: Lucky
Musical Instruments: Eighteenth
Toys and Games: Yacht
Downy: Splash

Beauty & Beast: Gift
Great Inventions: Hall
Raleigh: Overseas
Numbers: Sweets
The Party: Trousers

The hidden character was therefore ... Marley's Ghost.

Happy New Year

Ladybird Christmas Quiz

This year's Ladybird Christmas Quiz is here:
If you've got a decent collection of Ladybird Books to consult (or don't mind having a few guesses) have a go.

Having completed the quiz, the first letter of every correct answer, when correctly arranged, will give the name of a Christmas character from a Ladybird Book. The first person to email me this word will join a small and select band of Christmas Quiz winners and win a Ladybird clip (worth about 10p!)

Good luck and Happy Christmas

A video history

To do something a bit different, I've made a video history of Ladybird Books in the 20th century - which you'll find here: www.ladybirdflyawayhome.com/videos.htm

It's very homespun and you'll need to turn the volume right up to hear it, but I had fun trying to make it - if nothing else!

Martin Aitchison's artwork

I've just put the (almost) finishing touches to a brand new gallery of artwork by the wonderful Ladybird Book artist, Martin Aitchison. Martin, now 88, was one of the most prolific of Ladybird's artists during the 'golden years' of the 1960s and 70s. He has recently released for sale a large batch of pieces of original Ladybird Book artwork dating between the 60s and 90s and its these pictures you can see in the new-look gallery of his website. Take a look here. Great for window shopping if nothing else.

We've finally heard back from the Antiques Roadshow - and we haven't made it to the show. Too much material for one programme. Ah well. It was good fun.

Now, if I don't want to break a 6-year tradition I must set to work to prepare a Ladybird Christmas quiz. Something a bit different this year ... but what?