Learning with Harry

Did anyone else see the Antiques Roadshow this evening?

I caught the tail-end of the piece on Ladybird Book original artwork and had to catch up on what I'd missed on the BBC iPlayer.

Just one comment (leaving aside the irritation of hearing the young child models for the 'Learning with Mother' series referred to as 'Peter and Jane' - the inaccuracy of which would bother no one but an anorak like me).

The programme's 'expert' rather under-values the very attractive Harry Wingfield artwork. I'm pretty sure that if those pieces came up for sale on eBay tomorrow they would sell for about twice the value that he stated. I know for a fact that attractive pieces of 'real' Peter and Jane artwork by Martin Aitchison sell for over £800, whilst a large, good quality print of Ladybird artwork can cost around £200.

And the winner is ...

It will come as no surprise to regular visitors to www.ladybirdflyawayhome.com that the winner of this year's Wise Robin Christmas ladybird quiz (see posting below) is Nicole.
Let nobody doubt that Nicole knows her Ladybird stuff; she has been a regular winner of this annual Christmas quiz.

The two pictures above were the interlopers in the video montage. As Nicole correctly pointed out, they are both 'Jack and Jill' books and not 'Ladybird' at all. In the 1960s Fleetwood tried to emulate the success of Ladybird Books by issuing the J&J series using almost exactly the same design and layout. I can't remember how many titles were issued - but fewer than 20 and they weren't in print for many years.

Happy New Year

A Ladybird Christmas

How does that John Lewis ad go? If you know the person, you'll find the present.

Here is a quick insight into what my friends and family think of when choosing a gift for me. These are some, but not all, of my Ladybird themed Christmas presents this year.

What's not to like?

This year's Christmas quiz.

Better late than never ...

This year's Ladybird Books Christmas Quiz is here.
Click the white arrow in the green box below. (Below, not the one to the side). Watch the video. Which two featured books are intruders and shouldn't be in the montage?.

One should be fairly easy to spot - the other a bit harder. The first one to email me - or post the correct answer as a comment below - wins the glory of being this year's Wise Robin Christmas Ladybod.




Good luck and Happy Christmas
Helen

Two more broadsheets have printed full obituaries to Douglas Keen this week. Here are the online versions:

The Times

The Independent

Following The Guardian obit, readers wrote letters for days afterwards saying why Ladybird had been important for them too. This is a flavour of what they wrote.

It was not just children for whom Ladybird Books opened up the world of learning (Douglas Keen obituary, November 29). As an IT training officer in the early 70s, I used to recommend the book on computers to trainee programmers as the clearest guide to the basics of computing. They usually found it extremely useful.
Charlie Withall
Sheffield


Required reading on our design course at the London College of Printing was the Ladybird Book of Printing Processes (Letters, December 9). Presumably so the typesetters and machine minders could pull the wool only so far over our eyes.
James Alexander
London

Some years ago I put the excellent Ladybird Book of Spelling and Grammar on the reading list for my first-year journalism students. I was quietly advised to remove it before the Daily Mail found out.
Bernard Pratt
Cheadle, Cheshire

Studying for my history A-level as a strapping 18-year-old in 1970, I used to receive what could be described at best as quizzical looks from my local librarian every two weeks as I repeatedly withdrew the Ladybird Book of Napoleon Bonaparte (Letters, December 1). I have to this day not seen a better overview of the great man. It served me well too!
Bob Buntine
Northampton

As a Methodist minister, I have regularly recommended, and frequently given, the Ladybird book on John Wesley to people asking about the origins of Methodism (Letters, December 5).
Kip Bennett
Greenford, Middlesex

Douglas Keen's younger daughter Caroline contributed the following touching letter:

My father Douglas Keen was an avid Guardian reader until he died aged 95. He would have been honoured by the full-page, full-colour obituary (November 29). But for his beloved Ladybird Books to be praised on the letters page - now that's a true compliment.
Caroline Alexander


Looking up these hyperlinks I came across an online discussion which had taken place last year, but which I'd missed. One commentator suggested that Ladybird Books were overrated and the debate really kicked off. You can follow it here and take up your own position. For me, this contributor summed it up beautifully:

"After all this there's probably an opportunity for someone to do The Ladybird Bird Book of Missing the Point. These amazing little books are continually bandied about in the pursuit of some obscure politically correct agenda, when the truth is that any pre-1975 Ladybird Book [ie the Douglas Keen years] has enormous visual appeal for anyone with an eye for sheer quality of design, illustration and printing. That's it."

The Daily Mail article

Here's the link to the online version of the article on Douglas Keen, which was published in the Daily Mail today.

The Guardian - Douglas Keen

On Saturday, The Guardian - Keen's favourite newspaper - published an obituary. If you missed it, you'll find a version of it here. It was written by Cressida Connolly , who I've never met but who I think must be a Ladybird-loving journalist as she wrote a very thoughtful article on Ladybird Books a few years ago.

I think The Daily Mail will pick up on events in a day or so too.