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Ladybird Tuesday – People at Work: The Road Makers

March 10, 2020 by penny Leave a Comment

Ladybird Tuesday has had another unplanned break. Blame a poorly little one, and a bit of a crazy time being a school governor. The combination of the two has meant very little time with a laptop or a book lately.

In that time AWOL from here I have had my usual crazy school run routine to follow – which some days results in about three hours on the road. As I found myself sat on the M1 one day staring at the signs it made me think about when a motorway like that was new and how strange it must have seemed. That in turn got me thinking about the Ladybird book on the subject (because, after all there were Ladybird books on pretty much EVERYTHING back then) The Road Makers, one of the titles from the People At Work series (606B).

We’ve visited this series several times now on Ladybird Tuesday (The Fireman, The Builder, The Soldier, The Policeman, The Car Makers, In a Hotel) and it’s one that I keep coming back to again and again as I love it so much. It’s a wonderful snapshot of how things used to be back when they were first published in the 1960s.

Ladybird Tuesday The Road Makers People at Work Ladybird Books Vintage

The Road Makers starts with some of the history of road making from tracks from village to village, to Roman roads, Turnpike roads and through to the first roads designed for motor cars. The most interesting fact for me was that the word “tarmac” comes from “tarmacadam”. This name comes from an engineer called Macadam who designed roads with smaller stones in layers and then a top layer finished with broken stone and grit. These roads were first used for horse drawn vehicles, but when the motor car came along these roads wore away more quickly, so to make the roads wear better tar was mixed with small stones and used for the top layer. This became tarmacadam or tarmac as we know it today.

As road use increased further, the Minster of Transport came into being and this is where The Road Makers starts to show the gender imbalance that was very much present in the 1960s. The book goes on to explain that the Minister’s role is to build new and even better roads, and so as part of doing that he “asks men” to work out where new roads are needed. I’m pretty sure women could have done the job just as well, but in the 1960s they simply didn’t.

After talking about how the new roads and layouts are designed (just look at all those men in the drawing office) and engineered we go on to hear about the men who actually go out and build them physically. And from what I can gather from the pictures in the book, it seems that quite a few tractors are involved in the process!

Civil engineering was never really my forte, but the book provides a fair bit of information on how the roads are built – talking about some of the different stages in the process. I do love the page on service stations though. Out in the open, it looks so quaint and uncluttered compared to what we are used to today.

It is also nice to see mention of the roadside telephones that were installed for people to be able to call for help if they breakdown. With most people carrying mobile phones I guess many of these motorway telephones are now redundant, but I have to admit to having not actually noticed if they are still there or not. I guess I ought to take a look the next time I’m driving on a motorway.

Ladybird Tuesday is a regular feature here on Penny Reads where I delve into my Ladybird book collection and choose a title to share with my readers. The weekly series originally started on my old blog, Being Mrs C, and this post originally appeared on there. I’m now in the process of moving all those posts over to Penny Reads and also adding titles that I have acquired since then. A list is currently being compiled here of all the titles I have in my collection.

Ladybird Tuesday – Shapes

February 18, 2020 by penny Leave a Comment

I’ve started looking back at my Ladybird Tuesday archive for posts to move over to Penny Reads, but I keep getting lost down the rabbit hole that is my Ladybird collection. I’d forgotten just how many Ladybird Tuesday posts there were over the years, and just how many books I have in my collection. This time round I’m re-visiting Shapes.

Shapes is a book that both Little Miss C and Master C enjoyed immensely when they were younger. This title was published by Ladybird in 1978 and was part of a series of five books (alongside abc, Telling the Time, Counting and Colours) that were designed “to help parents to amuse, interest and at the same time to teach”. On the spine they are identified as “Early Learning” and I think they were originally part of series 563, although this is obviously a later version as the original series was published in the 1950s.

The artwork in this book is very much of the era – lots of bright colours and some of it really quite “arty”. It’s interesting to note that the book was written by Ethel Wingfield and designed by her husband Harry, yet the illustrations are credited to John Scott and Harry Wingfield. I may be wrong, but I’m guessing that Scott was responsible for the modern looking parts and Harry for the more classical looking shell pictures that I’ve featured below.

I find 1970s Ladybird books quite fascinating as there was this obvious desire to update everything and modernise it in some way rather than appreciate the older book designs and illustrations for the wonderful works of art that they were. A shame really, but I suppose it gives collectors like myself more to collect!

It’s been ages since I looked at some of these 70s books and I’d forgotten just how different they were inside to the older Ladybird titles. Time to gig out a few more from my collection I think.

Ladybird Tuesday: The Weather

February 9, 2020 by penny Leave a Comment

After a weekend in which the country has been well and truly battered by Storm Ciara, it seems the perfect time to dust off my copy of The Weather for Ladybird Tuesday.

When I first featured this title back on Being Mrs C it seems that we had also just come out of a week of bad weather. Then again the weather is something us Brits love to talk about. There’s no wonder then that Ladybird included this title in their Nature Series, Series 536.

This book very much focuses on the British Weather and it really does teach you everything you need to know about the weather and meteorology in general. As well as talking about why the British Isles have the weather they do, it goes on to explain high and low pressures and why the winds blow.

In addition to a table detailing the different levels in the Beaufort Scale there is also a nice visual version which is perfect for children who may have some difficulties putting all the descriptions into something they can understand.

Many of the explanations about why weather events happen take me clearly back to my science and geography lessons at school. I can certainly see this book being useful with the kids. When they were much smaller their Dad had a weather station at home and they enjoyed knowing how much rain had fallen in the night and things like that. I may well have to get one so that their little sister can experience the same once she’s a bit older.

I find that so many of these Ladybird books take me back to my childhood when I read them, even if I didn’t have that particular book when I was a child. When I reached the page about thunder and lightening I was instantly taken back to one evening sat in my parents living room when we had a huge thunderstorm which really scared me. At the time I had a book out of the local library which I think was called The Weather Witch – despite my best efforts I just can’t find this at all online. In this book I seem to recall that the witch was responsible for the weather which meant that I was asking my Dad to get her to stop as I didn’t like the thunderstorm. My Dad’s efforts to explain to me that he couldn’t stop the weather fell on deaf ears somewhat and I remember going through the same arguments with Little Miss C who seemed obsessed with the idea that “Mummy can stop the wind”!

As well as explaining the weather simply (yet without dumbing it down) the book also explains how the wind, temperature, sunshine and precipitation are measured. Having been originally published in 1962 the book obviously doesn’t cover all the up to date tools and techniques that they now use in the Met Office.

Whilst weather stations like the above are still used I’m pretty sure that popping out in a tie and pullover with a pipe in your mouth isn’t the way it’s currently done.

Ladybird Tuesday – The Wonderful World of Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups

February 3, 2020 by penny Leave a Comment

Something a bit different on Ladybird Tuesday this week. As much as I love all the vintage titles in my collection, today I’m sharing with you one of the newest Ladybird books and one that’s not the normal format for a Ladybird book – The Wonderful World of Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups.

The Wonderful World of Ladybird Books for Grown Ups Ladybird Tuesday

You must quite frankly be either blind or have never set foot inside a bookshop if you haven’t seen the recent comedy Ladybird titles. Perfect as birthday or Christmas presents, these books by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris take original Ladybird artwork and re-purpose it in new titles.

With titles ranging from *The Ladybird Book of The Hangover right through to *The Story of Brexit there isn’t really a topic that the pair are prepared to tackle for comedy purposes. I heard them being interviewed by Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie not so long ago, and in that interview they talked about their planned next book: The Wonderful World of Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups.

What they’ve done with this book is bring together a collection of a whopping 337 Ladybird book titles and covers, combined with example pages and text from some of them. It is an utter delight! Proper laugh out loud funny. I’m just kicking myself that I’ve only just got a copy.

Having worked through so many Ladybird books over the years with Ladybird Tuesday, I recognise much of the artwork that they have used, but the combination of it with suggested Ladybird book titles is done superbly.

The Wonderful World of Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups

The famous Ladybird picture of the magic porridge pot pouring out porridge whilst a woman shrieks in horror appears under the title Learnabout… Risotto. Learnabout… Asthma has a cover featuring four power station cooling towers billowing out smoke. Meanwhile The Ladybird Book of The House of Commons features four chimps having a tea party on its cover. Toilet roll tubes feature on the cover of the helpful How to Make Your Own Cigars book.

If you love seeing your favourite Ladybird artwork in brilliant comedy titles, *buy this book.

If you know someone that loves Ladybird books, *buy them this book.

If you know someone who has a sense of humour, *buy them this book.

Without a doubt the funniest thing in my Ladybird collection!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which are marked with a *. If you click through on these links and buy anything (not just the item linked) then I receive a small amount of commission. It costs you no more than it would do normally. I am grateful for all affiliate purchases. Thank you.

Ladybird Tuesday – You Must Be Joking!

January 27, 2020 by penny Leave a Comment

In an attempt to curb my Ladybird collection in some way I don’t normally pay much attention to the ones with glossy covers. It’s just my way of trying to reduce the number that come home from the charity shop with me. That plan doesn’t always work though, and in the case of You Must Be Joking! I’m glad it didn’t.

I suppose the glossy Ladybirds that I keep an eye out for are the non-fiction ones. The titles that were released as some sort of a special edition. You Must Be Joking! is a collection of children’s jokes in aid of Save the Children. Released on 1986 the book has a forward by HRH The Princess Anne as HRH The Princess Royal was known then (she became Princess Royal in 1987). For those of you that remember the 80s, this was a year before she appeared on the, ill-fated, Royal version of It’s a Knockout representing the charity.

All the jokes in You Must Be Joking! were submitted by children of the Ladybird Book Club, and inside the back cover is a list of the schools that they attended. Inside the front cover is a page of photographs showing the work of Save the Children and a description of the work that they do, both overseas and here in the UK.

The book is split into different categories, with pages of Knock, Knock jokes, Doctor, Doctor ones, Limericks and Cross the Road jokes in addition to more general pages of jokes. All pages are illustrated in a bright, eye-catching way, an the credit for the design, illustration and calligraphy is given to Judith Wood and Michael Nicholls of Hurlston Design Ltd.

Working out what series Ladybird books of the 1980s belong to isn’t easy. There is one list that I often use, but I have previously found that this doesn’t contain everything. You Must Be Joking! doesn’t appear on the list and to be honest I”m not totally sure which series it belongs to. It sometimes is listed online with Hobbies written in brackets after the title (as also appears in the British Library Cataloguing section inside the front of the book), suggesting that it might belong to the hobbies series, but it’s not totally clear if it is or not. Yet another ladybird book to investigate further. There’s certainly a theme here when it comes to Ladybird books!

My Top Five Books for One Year Olds

January 23, 2020 by penny Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: This book contains affiliate links marked with a *. For a full disclaimer please see the bottom of this post.

I’ve always loved books and it’s a love that I hope to have passed on to all three children. Whilst nine year old Little Miss C is a complete book worm and devours pretty much any story you give her, seven year old Master C is more of a non-fiction reader. He loves books of facts and those that explain how things work. He’s also got quite a thing for audio books with Roald Dahl and David Walliams on regular rotation in his bedroom. But what about the youngest bookworm in the family? One year old Tube Stop Baby.

It’s hard to pin down at exactly what age children start to enjoy books, but at 14 months old now I know that TSB is definitely doing just that. We keep a collection of board books in the living room in a box that she can easily get to and we often find her going through all the books in the box, turning the pages and chattering away to herself about what she sees in them. There’s a second shelf of books upstairs that we sit and read with her as part of her bedtime routine.

Even at such a young age it’s clear that she has favourites. Books that she keeps going back to and ones that she brings over to us to have read to her. It’s beautiful to see and something that I hope continues.

I remember favourite books with LMC, but I never made an effort to keep a record of what she favoured when. This time around I’m determined to change that. So here are mine and TSB’s top five books for one year olds.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carl

Probably the most well known title on the list, there can’t be a parent alive who isn’t familiar with the story of the little egg laid on a leaf that went on to be a *Very Hungry Caterpillar. With beautiful artwork, lots of opportunity for children to count along with you, complete with holes in the page to help little children use their fingers for counting.

As well as teaching little ones about the lifecycle of a caterpillar the book also contains lots of familiar looking food that little ones will recognise. TSB is always particularly excited to see the watermelon come up on the list of food that the caterpillar tucks into on Saturday.

There are so many reasons this book is a 50 year old classic and rightly so.

Rabbit’s Nap – Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

I’m not sure how *Rabbit’s Nap first came into our possession but I’m glad it did. A beautiful tale of a rabbit who is desperate to have a nap, but various other noisy animals make it rather difficult for him to do so. With a flap on each double page there is plenty for little fingers to discover as you read the story. I just need to convince TSB to be a bit less enthusiastic about the flaps – ours are held together with rather a lot of sellotape now.

The rhyming text gives the story a lovely rhythm when you read it aloud, making it perfect for a pre-bed story. The fact that it ends with rabbit actually getting her nap (sorry for the spoiler!) makes it ideal for leading on to encouraging your little one into bed themselves.

Goodnight Moon – Margaret Wise Brown

“In the great green room there is a telephone, and a red balloon, and a cow jumping over the moon…”

With words that form in your mouth as wonderfully as these who wouldn’t want to read this aloud?

The artwork in *Goodnight Moon is different to most of TSB’s other books, with pages alternating between black and white and a colour illustrations, between views the whole room and close ups. It’s stylised, but with loads of detail that grabs children’s attention.

That combination of artwork and delicious words and rhyming is what makes me love reading it so much. After all, who can’t help but smile when they read “a bowl full of mush, and a quiet old lady whispering hush”?

Peepo! – Janet and Allan Ahlberg

As you may have gathered from my collection of Ladybird books, I love books set in the 40s and 50s and part of me wishes I had been alive then. *Peepo! fits into that category perfectly.

Again, rhyming text makes it wonderful to read aloud, but to me it’s the illustrations in this book that I love most. There is so much detail on every single page and lots that is referred to in the text meaning that you can point lots out as you read it. I just wish I could jump into the pictures and take a proper look around.

Each double page spread includes a cut out that you can peep through and the way that the text uses the word peepo in the rhyme means that you can then encourage your little one to peep through the hole to the picture on the next page.

That’s Not My…

*That’s not my… books are known and hated by parents across the country, but there’s no doubt that children love them. Their formulaic text makes them somewhat dull to read, but each page has a different texture on it for your children to discover and at this age discovering new things like this is incredibly exciting. TSB can spend ages with a pile of these books, touching the pages whilst making sounds of wonder. That makes it worth putting up with the words!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links that are marked with *. If you click through on any of these links and buy anything then it will cost you no more than normal, but I will receive a small commission. Normally only just enough to buy about a quarter of a cup of coffee, but appreciated all the same. Thank you.