It’s somewhat fitting that I’m sat writing this week’s Ladybird Tuesday in a cafe on the island of Jersey (much more on that soon), because this week’s Ladybird Tuesday book choice is Islands from the Ladybird Leader series, number 737. Islands was one of the later titles in the Ladybird Leader series. A series which covers things as diverse as song birds and trains. Sounds and teeth. The aim of the series was to meet the “very real need” for “first information books” for children. Ones which help answer some of the questions that children have, whilst also encouraging reluctant ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: The Circus Comes to Town
Oh how the circus has changed since today's Ladybird Tuesday book was first published! The Circus Comes to Town was first published in 1957 and I am led to believe that the first editions of this book came complete with dust jacket, as the very early Ladybird titles did. My copy is probably slightly later, but it's definitely an old edition. The pages are made from the shiny paper that Ladybird trialled in a few titles. When I featured the Ladybird Book of Commercial Vehicles on here a few years back, I wrote about how it was experimented with in series 584, but I hadn't realised that ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Division Made Easy
Shockingly, it's over two years since Multiplication made easy appeared here on Ladybird Tuesday. Back then I wrote about how maths can really divide people as a subject. Some love it and some hate it. I've always thought of myself as being firmly in the "love maths" camp. When at school it was the lesson I always looked forward to. The idea of English or Drama on the timetable filled me with dread. Give me double maths over that any day of the week. I'd like to say that I'm still on the "love maths" side of the fence, but as Little Miss C has advanced through the school system (she's ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: ‘People at Work’ The Fireman
It's been a while since I've bought any new Ladybird books. Partly because I was trying to save money, but also partly because they just weren't to be found in local charity shops at a reasonable place. I've been travelling around the country a lot more recently though, and in doing so discovering new charity shops, and more Ladybird books! The whole of Ladybird Tuesday started with me featuring a book from series 606B, People at Work, when I wrote about In a Hotel. Since then though I've gone on and actually featured quite a few of this series, and it remains one of my absolute ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: How to Make Presents
Oh dear - we've been AWOL again haven't we with Ladybird Tuesday. This new school routine has taken a bit of getting used to since September, but with half term now out of the way it's time to crack on until Christmas. And talking about Christmas - as my email inbox appears to be doing already this morning - it might be time to start thinking about presents. Ladybird have got this covered with their 1978 book handily titled How to make Presents. Now this title was part of series 633, but one of the additional titles that was brought out in the 1970s. The series was originally called ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Cataloging the Collection
You may have noticed I've gone a bit quite again. There's a very simple reason this time - I'm spending every spare minute finally cataloging my Ladybird collection! When I started collecting Ladybird books I have to admit that I had no real idea what I was doing. I remembered them fondly from my childhood, but had no idea of how many Ladybird books were out there - I just liked the ones I'd spotted in charity shops so decided to start buying them. Several years down the line there are over 400 books in my collection and they are somewhat scattered across the house. With the help of a ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: The Ladybird Book of Commercial Vehicles
Oh Ladybird Tuesday, how I've missed you! When Ladybird Tuesday first started years ago Tuesday was a day when I was childfree and able to ensure a Ladybird post went up every week without fail. Have you realised yet that for the last 18 months I've been running a playgroup every Tuesday and always had at least one child with me and so completely failed to post regularly. Argh! Sorry about that. Something just had to give and Ladybird Tuesday was sadly the victim. Still, only two more weeks left running playgroup - one voluntary role that I'm really looking forward to giving up at Christmas ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Nelson
I mentioned a few weeks back that I'd found some other Ladybird titles that have recently been republish and Nelson from the Adventures in History series (series 561) is one such book. This title was originally published by Ladybird in 1957, but some time in the late 1970s or early 1980s (I'm unsure of the exact year) the book was reprinted with a different cover, giving it a look that was consistent with the new Adventures in History books that were published around that time. All the inside pages and illustrations were identical to the original 1957 version. I'm not exactly ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Christmas Special!
Ladybird Tuesday often goes a bit AWOL over the festive period, but seeing as I always mean, but fail, to do a round up of Ladybird inspire gifts before each Christmas I though that instead I'd do a quick round up of the Ladybird presents I was lucky enough to receive on Christmas day. First up was a gift from my husband that I'd actually put on my Christmas list - The Ladybird Story. This book started life as a PhD thesis on the history of Ladybird books and whilst it is written very much in an academic style, it is completely fascinating. I've not yet had the time to read it all ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Coffee
I do sometimes wonder just how Ladybird decided which books to put in some of their series - in particular the Ladybird Leader series (737). Whilst they're all subjects where there is plenty to learn about, the list can seem a bit random when you first read it. From water to bridges, apes and monkeys to fruit, and deserts to coffee. Coffee is obviously a huge commodity in the world today and if anything the way people drink coffee has changed even more since 1977 when this book was first published. Now there are coffee shops every few meters (well in St Albans there certainly are) and it's ... read more