Winning score now stands at 6 out of 8

Can you beat that?

Click here to try

The Story of Music

Have I made it a bit hard this year? So far no one has scored more than 4 out of the 8 Christmas Quiz questions.

If you think you can beat 4, have a go here.

Ladybird Musical Christmas Quiz 2010

This year, a musical theme - and a prize! The winner of the quiz will win some Ladybird wind-chimes. If I get more than one submission of the correct answer (which usually happens) I'll put all correct answers into a hat and randomly select one after Christmas.

OK so down to the serious business:

1) Listen to the 8 clips below. Which mainly pre-1980s Ladybird Book is referred to by each tune? In most cases the clue might be in the title of the song, or it might be a theme tune to film or programme. In one case, the clue is a bit more tenuous - more to do with the origins of the song.

2) Jot down the answers somewhere, you won't be able to go back to listen again easily once you click on the 'submit here' link. (You can re-submit/change your answers any number of times). Alternatively, you can just email me your answers: nmccar1063@aol.com

3) When you think you know the 8 Ladybird Books, click on the link at the bottom of this post, type your email address in the 'name' box (so I can identify the winner) and submit your answers.

4) Check back after Christmas to see the winner

Good luck!


Question 1


(2 words)


(Remember, the link to submit your answers is at the bottom, below the 8 clips but it's easier to jot down your answers on paper before going there). Alternatively you can email me: nmmcar1063@aol.com

Question 2


(3 words)



Question 3


(Various contenders for this one. Choose the first of the series. 3 words)


Question 4


(1 word)


Question 5


(3 words)


Question 6


(2 words)



Question 7


(2 words)


Question 8


(2 words)





Think you know all or most of the answers? Click here.

REMEMBER to type your email address in the 'name' box (so I can identify the winner) and submit your answers. Use only lower case and no punctuation.

Identified a song too late? You can resubmit - I'll take your best answer.

Good luck - and Happy Christmas to everybody!

Stumpy the Bear?

I am often asked to identify books from fairly little information - someone will email me asking if I can help them identify a much loved childhood book from some vague recollection of an illustration or a line of text.

To be honest, it's usually easy to help. I'm surprised by how often it is the same books that are enquired about in this way - the same images which have lodged in peoples' heads over several decades.

For example I'm often asked about a book of poems that has one about cleaning out a porridge bowl or that contains a poem about daddy falling into a pond. (Bedtime Rhymes, edited by Audrey Daly). The earlier Lapage incarnation of Bedtime Rhymes is another which seems to haunt people, who fondly remember 'Old Tom Tomato' 'Gee Gees and Hee Haws' etc.

However, sometimes people will contact me, convinced that the book that they recall is a Ladybird Book, but which I don't recognise at all - and that's happened this week:

I'm trying to track down a book from my childhood to give to my daughter .
I'm pretty sure it was a ladybird book called Stumpy . The story was about a teddy bear found on the beach by a young child . Sorry i cant be more specific about the story . I have looked on various web sites and even on the ladybird site . It would mean a lot if i could get hold of a copy .

Can anyone out there help? I don't recognise it, but maybe the writer of the email is quite young and the book is outside my range of interest (1940 - 1985). Do let me know if you can help.

New Martin Aitchison artwork for sale

Martin Aitchison has released some more pieces of original Ladybird Book artwork for sale.

Take a look at his gallery here. There are some lovely pieces here. I think my favourite is 'Liang Painted a Storm' from the Read it Yourself story 'The Magic Paintbrush'. It's magical. I also particularly like one of the Puddle Lane pieces.

Clipped from: martingallery.webnode.com (share this clip)

Martin's main website: www.martinaitchison.co.uk

The Night Sky

I received this 'video response' today to a Ladybird Book themed video on YouTube.

This captures so well the power that a well-pitched, well-written, beautifully illustrated book can have on a child.

Reading on the tube

A couple of good friends visited me from the USA this summer. Of course they wanted to visit London and were especially keen to see The Tower of London.

Since you get more out of a visit when you know a bit of background reading, I started looking around the internet for some engaging potted histories – when it occurred to me that I had shelves of them behind me. I took down a couple of History series books – Henry VIII and Elizabeth I and rather tentatively, suggested they might want to look them.

Once my friends had got over their surprise that Ladybird Books weren’t just about fluffy bunnies and obedient school children – an impression they’d picked up from the books they’d noticed lying around my house – they picked up a book and started reading. And reading.

They read right through a book each in one sitting and then swapped books , occasionally reading out snippets to each other – and asked for more! My friends are both over 50 and educated to Post Grad level – but as an engaging intro to interesting periods in British history, these little children's books ticked the box as no other.

The following day, they headed off to the Tower of London, sitting on train and tube happily reading their Ladybird Books. “Yes”, they said afterwards, “they’d got a few strange looks”. But these two aren’t the sort to care.

Perhaps Ladybird should have produced an alternative 'grown up' cover to spare adult blushes when reading in public - as Bloomsbury did with Harry Potter. Oh wait, Ladybird did try that once of course:

"How it Works: The Computer was used by university lecturers to make sure that students started at the same level. Two hundred copies of this same book were ordered by the Ministry of Defence. But it was a special order, with the the books in plain brown covers, to save embarrassment!"

http://www.ladybird.co.uk/aboutus/companyhistory.html