Whilst this is not one of the oldest of the Ladybird books in my collection is it one of my faviourites purely based on the subject: Brownie Guides. The uniform on the cover is exactly the one that I wore when a Brownie in the 1980s. The book was actually first published in 1978, but it seems that not much had chanegd by the time I joined. The book covers everything from how the Brownie Guides were created as a youth section of the Girl Guides and how they fitted in with the already formed Scout movement through to Brownie Guides around the world. The structure of the Guiding movement is ... read more
Learning letters
Just over a month ago I wrote about how Little Miss C has started to show a real interest in letters and numbers and how we're trying to encourage her and help her to learn what the individual letters are. In this last month she's come on in leaps and bounds and now recognises several letters and can also say what letters certain words start with. Whilst at nursery they use Jolly Phonics to teach children to read, but at home we're currently trying to do things much more organically - whilst also trying to keep track of what works and captures her interest and what doesn't. We ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: ‘How it works’ The Rocket
I'm going for a full on geek-out with this week's Ladybird Tuesday and a book that I'm pretty sure even Professor Brian Cox would approve of - 'How it works' The Rocket. The 'How it works' series (series 654 in case you're wondering) was the perfect series for any little budding engineers. It basically explained exactly how objects worked and covered everything from the household television through to Farm Machinery. There's plenty of detail, but all written in a simple style so that children could easily follow it. Now, bearing in mind that I did ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: The Emperor’s New Clothes
This is probably one of the more recent Ladybird books in my vintage collection - in my mind it still fits in the vintage category as it's got the matt cover - but it's one that I remember very very clearly from childhood. Along with the cover picture the other thing that I remember best about this book is the music. Music? I hear you ask. Well yes, as I actually had a copy of this which came with an audio cassette version too. You see a cassette - that instantly makes it vintage doesn't it? The start and end of the story (and possibly at the end of each side too I'm not ... read more
Me and My Mum – Alison Ritchie & Alison Edgson
There's only a week to go until Mother's Day here in the UK and I thinking about it this year is actually the first year that I've thought about the day in terms of me being the mother that the day is all about. I've always focussed on my mum (especialy since her birthday always falls within a week of Mother's Day too) and until now Little Miss C hasn't really be old enough to take in what it's all about. This year I know that they have been talking about what their mums do for them at nursery and also making gifts for us - she just couldn't contain her ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: ‘People At Work’ The Car Makers
Yes I have noticed it's Wednesday (and Wednesday evening at that!) but Tuesday this week vanished into a mix of trying to comfort a teething baby and preparing for Mr C's birthday. I had a Ladybird Tuesday post planned in my head though so I'm just pressing ahead a day late. This week I have another book from the People at Work series (series 606B) and as I found with the In a Hotel book - it seems to be full of things that today would be considered sexist! First published in 1968 The Car Makers describes the production of a car as it was then, from first designs to ... read more
Monkey Nut – Simon Rickerty
Sending a book called Monkey Nut to a household where someone has a peanut allergy probably isn't the best way to get a good review of something, but then Simon and Schuster weren't to know that. Unfortunately though this book just didn't quite work for us, even putting all allergies to one side. In this book these two "thing" fight over a single monkey nut before an elephant comes along, breaks it in two, eats then nut and gives them half a shell each to play with. Now the first problem we had was the two "things", one red and one blue. I had absolutely no idea ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Beaky the Greedy Duck
A fiction choice for this week's Ladybird Tuesday. There are actually two Ladybird series which are devoted to animal stories, series 401 - which Little Miss C regularly enjoys quite a few books from - and series 497 which Beaky the Greedy Duck belongs to. The 497 books are all somewhat longer and written in a conventional prose style rather than the rhyming couplets that series 401 likes. As the title suggests this book is all about Beaky, a duck who happens to be rather greedy. It's a lovely little story, if a little long when LMC selects it as a bedtime book, and accompanied by ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: Stone Age Man in Britain
A little bit late with today's Ladybird Tuesday post - apologies! Today is my first book from Series 561, Adventures from History - Stone Age Man in Britain (first published in 1961). This whole series provides a fantastic background into British and world history with most of the books focusing on a famous person and their role in our history. Several kings are included along with the likes of Sir Walter Raleigh, Florence Nightingale and Captain Scott. Some of the others in the series look further afield - Julius Caesar and Roman Britain, and Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt. A recent ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: The Zoo
After numbers last week, today Ladybird Tuesday is moving on to words and a book from the Learning to Read series (series 563) - The Zoo. As with so many Ladybird books this one is written around a subject which appeals to all children - the zoo. The text is very straight forward and designed so that when looked at with the accompanying illustrations it is very easy for a child to work out what it is saying. When this book was first published in 1960 elephant rides were a popular sight at many zoos and you can see the elephant in the above illustration wearing the seat that would have ... read more