Ladybird books

[Boodi 2]

I had a several Ladybird books and there may still be a few here, I must check. However, I no longer have my favourite Ladybird book, which was a book about the countryside with wonderfully evocative illustrations of woodlands, vales, marshes etc and the vegetation there. Unfortunately I cannot remember the exact title, which makes searching for it extremely difficult.

[Anita Bensoussane]

We used to take some Ladybird nature books out into the countryside when my children were little, Boodi, and try to find the things featured. One series which had particularly beautiful illustrations (by C. F. Tunnicliffe) was a set of four books - What to Look For in Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter. Maybe the title you remember was one of those? Those books were recently reissued, but disappointingly they now have more basic illustrations which aren't as attractive in my opinion. They've probably been rewritten too.

£1 isn't bad at all, Katharine. Anything from 50p to £3 seems typical. I bought the Elizabeth Fry 'Adventure from History' book for 70p the other day, though I haven't read it yet.

My mum taught me to read with Peter and Jane before I started school, and I did the same with my own children.

[Katharine]

I hope you manage to work out which book you are thinking of. There are several that feature the countryside, such as the four seasons, or specific trees etc. The illustrations in the ones I've seen are lovely.

[Katharine]

Anita, I think £1 each is very reasonable, I've often spent £2 - £3 on them, although usually older ones with D/W.

One of the purchases was possibly a duplicate as it is one of the counting books, and I couldn't remember if I already have it or, but felt £1 was worth the risk.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Might as well live dangerously! Any duplicates might come in handy for the children of relatives or friends.

[Katharine]

Ha ha - don't encourage me to be reckless with my hard-earned cash.

Do you mean give them away? Not sure I could part with a book without being heavily sedated first.

[Anita Bensoussane]

You'd be playing your part in influencing the younger generation for the good!

[Katharine]

Interesting psychology, but I'm afraid it didn't work.

[Boatbuilder]

Katharine, have you been reading 'A Christmas Carol' lately?

[Katharine]

No, that's a book haven't read. I do have a copy somewhere, and think I made a start, but didn't get past the first few pages.

I'm sure it will turn up at some point.

[Jack400]

Incidentally, I'm sure that several Ladybird titles of that era feature houses with green-painted skirting boards and door frames. It seems to have been a popular colour back then. In at least four homes I've lived in (including the flat where I live now), there have been chipped/peeled places on the skirting boards and door frames, allowing several layers of paint to be seen from through the decades. All of those homes have had green skirting boards and door frames at some point. During my lifetime, skirting boards and door frames have more commonly been painted white or cream.

Be careful if sanding that green paint, Anita. It's probably poisonous, as with the book covers that I posted about on here somewhere, the colour probably contains arsenic.

I too have fond memories of Ladybird books. Magnets, bulbs and Batteries, being a special favourite.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for the warning about the paint, Jack. I came across Magnets, Bulbs and Batteries and other science titles when my children were little, and they enjoyed reading them.

Ladybird brought out an abridged version of A Christmas Carol in their 'Classics' series, Katharine!

[Katharine]

Thanks Anita, if I can't find the original/find it too hard going, I'll have to keep an eye out for the Ladybird version.

[Boodi 2]

Thanks for the advice on the Ladybird book that I cannot identify. It may well have been one of the "What to Look For in Spring/Summer" books (I doubt it was the Autumn/Winter ones), but the illustrations and accompanying text were magical and I still think of them.

[Boodi 2]

Having checked I'm afraid that it was not the "What to Look For" series, although the illustrations might well have been from Charles F. Tunnicliffe. However, I will keep searching as I would really love to identify the book in question.