On my website I've added quite a few new bits recently, so here's a summary.
John Murray, son of the writer of The Impatient Horse sent me some background to the writing of the story - which has become perhaps the most sought-after Ladybird Book of all.
I've added a page of 'Videos' featuring Ladybird Books. Let me know if you think there's a Ladybird video out there that should be on the page.
I've also added a Quintura cloud search on the 'Fun Stuff' page. Helps to while away a moment or two.
There's probably some more stuff but I can't think what right now. I'm just off to do a 'sun dance' (see Ladybird Books: "Learnabout - Things to do during rainy Half-Term Holidays". I need good weather because I plan to take a few crate loads of Less-Loved-Tales to get rid of at the St Albans car-boot sale tomorrow.
Friday, 30 May 2008
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Well it works for me!
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.
Thursday, 8 May 2008
Car Boot Season
The fine weather cometh and what does that mean?
Car boot sale season is upon us again.
Last year was a bit of a wash out - too much rain, too many muddy fields, too few boot sales so I've got pent-up treasure-hunt energy and am particularly looking forward to this year.
It's a bit of a triumph of hope over experience; the fact is that you almost never find anything special at car boot sales these days. Gone are the (albeit rare) days when you would come across a box of pristine matt books - fresh from their time-warp. Gone are the days of turning over a dust-jacketed copy of 'The Party', 'In the Country' or 'A Little Silk Apron' in a box filled with bits of curtain pelmet and sewing patterns. I was spectacularly lucky when acquiring the 6 books in the original Tasseltip series - 474. I found all of them, one after the other, in car boot sales or neglected in bookshops and never paid more than £5.00.
Now people know that Ladybird Books are collectable. My local charity shop has 3 rather scruffy 'Words for Numbers' books in the window, priced at an optimistic £5.00 each. So the chances of coming across that Benny Smith haul are frankly not great. But hey ho!
Car boot sale season is upon us again.
Last year was a bit of a wash out - too much rain, too many muddy fields, too few boot sales so I've got pent-up treasure-hunt energy and am particularly looking forward to this year.
It's a bit of a triumph of hope over experience; the fact is that you almost never find anything special at car boot sales these days. Gone are the (albeit rare) days when you would come across a box of pristine matt books - fresh from their time-warp. Gone are the days of turning over a dust-jacketed copy of 'The Party', 'In the Country' or 'A Little Silk Apron' in a box filled with bits of curtain pelmet and sewing patterns. I was spectacularly lucky when acquiring the 6 books in the original Tasseltip series - 474. I found all of them, one after the other, in car boot sales or neglected in bookshops and never paid more than £5.00.
Now people know that Ladybird Books are collectable. My local charity shop has 3 rather scruffy 'Words for Numbers' books in the window, priced at an optimistic £5.00 each. So the chances of coming across that Benny Smith haul are frankly not great. But hey ho!
Monday, 21 April 2008
Sunday, 6 April 2008
More on Ladybird Prints ...
I am pleased to say that the company offering the Ladybird Prints has agreed with my comment below about the fact that the artists should be credited on the website. They got in touch to acknowledge the point (as did Jo from Ladybird) and now the artists are cited. So now you can browse away with a clear conscience :-D
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
A new dawn
Martin Aitchison has just released another 9 pieces of original 1970s Peter and Jane artwork for sale on his website. You can see them here: www.MartinAtichison.co.uk
There are some really great one there.
Also I have made a small clip about the earliest ever Ladybird Books (that is, the earliest books from the 401 series when Ladybird began to publish pocket-sized books). You can find it on the 'Gallery page'.
Thursday, 20 March 2008
Ladybird prints
I see that Ladybird have now started to sell prints of their artwork archive:
Ladybird prints
There are hours of fun to be had here, browsing through some wonderful prints. I think I would have spent quite a lot of money here once upon a time, before I developed an expensive taste for the original artwork.
One thing strikes me as strange, though. I notice that the artists aren't credited on the site. The author of a given book is credited even though the text is not reproduced, but not the artist! Hardly seems fair.
Also, I wonder what they mean when they state that the artwork comes from the 'Ladybird Archive'. I assumed at first that this must be a physical collection of artwork which Ladybird (Penguin) hold - as I know they do. But the fact is that there are prints on this site, the original artwork for which resides in my living-room, so that can't be right.
Anyway, have fun browsing.
Ladybird prints
There are hours of fun to be had here, browsing through some wonderful prints. I think I would have spent quite a lot of money here once upon a time, before I developed an expensive taste for the original artwork.
One thing strikes me as strange, though. I notice that the artists aren't credited on the site. The author of a given book is credited even though the text is not reproduced, but not the artist! Hardly seems fair.
Also, I wonder what they mean when they state that the artwork comes from the 'Ladybird Archive'. I assumed at first that this must be a physical collection of artwork which Ladybird (Penguin) hold - as I know they do. But the fact is that there are prints on this site, the original artwork for which resides in my living-room, so that can't be right.
Anyway, have fun browsing.
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