Non Fiction

Ladybird Tuesday – Talkabout holidays

May 4, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

I’m pretty sure many of us are talking about holidays, or the prospects of holidays, right now. It seems like a lifetime ago that we could just plan a trip and that it was likely to actually go ahead. With the possible relaxing further of travel restrictions in a few weeks it seemed the perfect time to feature Talkabout holidays from Ladybird series 735.

The Talkabout books were originally released in the 1970s and were a perfect way of introducing young children to books. Prompts on each page to talk to children about, and gorgeous illustrations – many by famous Ladybird regular artist Martin Aitchison.

Released in 1977 Talkabout holidays covers pretty much everything there is to discuss on the series of holidays. Well, holidays as they were in the 1970s. Things start with choosing where to go and booking the trip. Lots of holiday brochures and a trip to the travel agent rather than just clicking on a website as we might today.

The book does mainly focus on the sorts of things you might get up to on a holiday in the UK, but there is also a gorgeous retro picture of the interior of an aeroplane and a page where you can discuss a French street scene.

The book also has a couple of things in it that I have to admit to not fully following. Like the picture story of leaving a radio on the car roof as you drive off. Was leaving things on the roof a common part of 1970s holidays?

As well as pages where you’re asked retell a story based on pictures, the book also features a couple of maze style puzzle pages too. It really isn’t a quick bedtime read, but instead a book to really be lingered over and discussed.

From what I’ve read over on Ladybird Fly Away Home (scroll down to near the end of the article), Ladybird reissued many of the titles in this series in the 1980s, but with totally different artwork, that was possibly cheaper to reproduce. Such a shame as I think it is the illustrations that make this title so particularly gorgeous.

In the introduction pages inside the front cover of the book it talks about how the books have been planned with “qualified nursery school advisors” and it’s clear just how useful these books are for helping to engage young children in conversation. Inside the back pages are ideas for extending the use of the books and everything written in there is still very valid today. For many first time parents in particular, knowing how best to share a book like this with a child isn’t something that necessarily comes naturally. Giving parents the tools to help their children develop a love of books is so valuable and done so perfectly here. I’ve heard some people say that they don’t really like the Talkabout series of books, but more fool them!

About Ladybird Tuesday

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: The Public Services – Water Supply

April 20, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

In The Nanny State Made Me, Stuart Maconie talks about how frankly stupid it is that something as basic as water is no longer a public service. And how spot on he is. It’s not as if the companies have any competition in the sector and also having a clean and safe water supply is a basic need to everyone.

Way, way back in the early days of Ladybird Tuesday I dipped into series 606E, The Public Services, looking at Electricity. I even commented at the times about how the whole concept of Electricity, Gas and Water being public services was vintage in itself. Years on, it’s time to revisit the series again, but this time we’ve moved on to the Water Supply.

I still smile to see this book labelled as being “A Ladybird ‘Easy-Reading’ Book”, but then when I consider some of the slightly obscure titles that my eldest two have brought home as school reading books maybe it isn’t as strange as I used to think. Kids do seem to have an interest in some of what us adults might class as mundane, or even geeky, and I think it fair to say that books on the Public Services fall into that category. Luckily I think I, and several of my friends fall into that geeky category.

Water Supply starts off with what has to be one of the most obvious things here in the UK – the fact that it rains rather a lot and hence we have a lot of water. It then goes on to explain about what a well is. Again, it seems like the obvious, but just a few months ago I honestly met someone who claimed never to have seen a well before and didn’t really believe that they exist. What the…?

The rather sweeping statement that “some large cities have made use of all the water that is nearby” is where this particular Ladybird books heads towards being being sexist in the way that so many of their books did. It goes on to tell us that the men at the water department must find more water. Heaven forbid that they might have a woman on their team!

Dams and reservoirs are explained, along with some helpful statements like “if a valley with houses in it has to be flooded, the people living in them must move”. You don’t say? Or maybe I’m just being a tad cynical in my old age…

In fairness though the book goes on to explain how the water is then taken from the reservoirs, treated to make it safe into drinking water, and taken to people’s houses. The book then looks at all things domestic, and covers much of the same ground as the later title Waterin the Ladybird Leaders series. They don’t leave that sexism behind though as there’s still lots of talk about the “men from the water board” having various jobs to do. Let’s just hope the modern day equivalent book would be a bit more balanced from an equality point of view.

About Ladybird Tuesday

The Nanny State Made Me – Stuart Maconie

April 14, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

It’s actually quite hard to know where to start with all the things I want to say about The Nanny State Made Me. To put things in context though, The Nanny State Made Me was published just before Covid hit, in March 2020. I read it during the third lockdown here in the UK in early 2021.

The sub-title of The Nanny State Made Me is “A story of Britain and how to save it” and whilst the first part of that sums things up well, the second part is now somewhat out of date following Covid. I understand that an updated paperback version has now been published, which takes account of some of what happened in the last 12 months, but there is so much in the book that I read and wanted to ask more questions about after everything that has changed since. It’s not Maconie’s fault that the book is in places now out of date, after all he wasn’t to predict a global pandemic and how the country had to cope with it!

If you’re read any of Stuart Maconie’s previous work you’ll have to accept that this is quite different. It’s very much a political book, and possibly not what you’d expect from a man who spends his weekend mornings eating crisps on the radio. But it turns out that Maconie writes about politics excellently.

You might guess from the title which way Stuart leans politically and The Nanny State Made Me certainly is very critical of various Tory governments and politicians, but in a measured manner with plenty of evidence backing up why Maconie feels the way he does.

Just the term ” the nanny state” can cause anger with some people who don’t believe that it is the state’s role to look after its citizens, but as Stuart himself points out “those who complain about the nanny state are most likely to have nannies”. I think if anything the last year and some of the decisions made by the Government really echo that sentiment. The simple lack of understanding by some in power of how the consequences of lockdown and restrictions impacted some people in society more than others suggested a vast lack of knowledge about how the state is relied upon by many, and the support that it should be providing.

In the book Stuart takes the reader through the various ways that the state has made his life better. He starts with the NHS, an institution that now people happily declare their love and admiration for. Was that really the case pre-Covid though, or were many of us just taking it for granted? There’s absolutely no doubt that the whole country certainly appreciates the NHS now more than ever before, but can the same be said for some of the other elements of the state that he covers?

Anyone who is familiar with Caitlin Moran will know how she credits her local library with educating her and shaping her life, but she is not alone in that sentiment. Before Amazon and the internet a local library was the obvious way of helping the nation read, but even now libraries (when they are open!) open doors for people’s imaginations and knowledge. They can help provide internet access for people who don’t have it at home, and also act as a safe haven for so many that want to escape into a book. Their opening hours and staff have been decimated over the years and yet many provided an amazing service for many isolating at home over the last year. We’ve heard of libraries offering click and collect services, but also delivering books to people shielding after taking phone calls to help understand their reading preferences. Some libraries even took it upon themselves to act as a telephone befriending service to people living alone, with librarians making calls to talk about books and even recording their own audio books for those who struggled with print but wanted to read a specific title.

It’s not just the NHS and libraries that get Stuart Maconie’s praise though. He also talks about council housing, schools, buses and trains, leisure facilities, the benefits system and even his employer the BBC. Whilst you might not necessarily agree with everything that he has to say, he makes his points eloquently and very convincingly, with everything incredibly well researched. I’ve always been a fan of libraries, thought that the railways should be renationalised and a firm believer in using places like council run leisure centres so that the powers that be don’t decide not enough people do and hence move to close them. On top of all that The Nanny State Made Me has also given me so much more to think about, and also more to research too. The idea of universal benefits for instance was something that I had always just instantly dismissed, but now I really want to follow up on some of the writing that Stuart used as his research and make a better informed decision on it myself.

In addition to my further reading what I also need to do is get my hands on a copy of the updated paperback version, although that may require me to find a copy in a bookshop (or library) first so that I can make sure I’m actually getting an updated version. The Nanny State Made Me left me shouting in frustration at time about how things have changed over the last year, but also realising just how little I know about certain issues in society. My reading challenge for this year includes alternating between reading fiction and non-fiction titles where possible and thanks to Stuart the number of non-fiction books and articles on my to read list is growing quickly.

The Nanny State Made Me by Stuart Maconie is published by Ebury Press and is available to buy online here.

Ladybird Tuesday – Exploring Space

April 6, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

As I stood infront of my Ladybird collection this morning trying to decide what to write about today I paused for a moment to think about which of my Ladybird books has been most relevant lately based on what we’ve been up to and what we’ve been watching and reading elsewhere. It’s hard when we haven’t really been anywhere, but also because much of what I’ve been reading and watching has been set post-Ladybird. Modern dystopian fiction, a book about the “nanny state” (more about that excellent book by Stuart Maconie later) and also America during the Vietnam War (The Trial of the Chicago 7 – an excellent film that’s well worth watching and available over on Netflix). There was one film that we enjoyed with the kids though that did fit in perfectly with one Ladybird title: Hidden Figures.

Now, if you haven’t seen the film Hidden Figures then I urge you to do so. It beautifully tells the story of three of the black women who worked for NASA in the 1960s and their key roles in the race for space. As well as helping to educate the kids about the roles America and Russia had in exploring space, it also shows what it was like for black women in a mainly male white work environment in a segregated American state. It had both kids (now aged 8 and 10) asking questions about segregation, why it happened, how it was overthrown and racism today.

Ladybird certainly didn’t publish any books about racial segregation, their Achievements series (series 601) did include a title about Exploring Space. Published in 1964 this book includes mention of John Glenn who we saw in Hidden Figures, as well as mention of the Russians launching the first earth satellite in 1957.

Exploring Space concentrates much more on the technology behind man’s attempts to explore space than the politics and the “race” between the two countries. It was also of course written before man went to the moon, and that omission really makes it feel very of its time as we look back at it. The book talks about why man would like to visit the moon, and what it might be like, but of course this was all based on theories at the time.

With so much more known about space now, it is almost strange to think back to when we knew so little. When everyone would have to go round a neighbour’s house to gather round their TV (or one in a shop window) to follow launches and NASA’s progress. Now there are YouTube live feeds of pretty much everything, in amazing quality and with multiple camera angles. It’s lovely though to be able to show the kids what it was like and what we did know and understand at the time. If we were still home schooling you could say that Exploring Space would have hit perfectly together with Hidden Figures as part of a science lesson about the race for space.

Exploring Space was first published in 1964 as part of Series 601, the Achievements Series. It was written by Roy Worvill MSc with illustrations by B. Knight.

About Ladybird Tuesday

Around the World in 80 Trains – Monisha Rajesh

February 22, 2021 by penny Leave a Comment

The idea of being able to dive into a book and so escape on a trip around the world by train sounds like my idea of heaven. Especially when we’ve been stuck at home for months and the furthest I’ve been since early December is the supermarket and to collect the kids from their Dad’s house. Monisha Rajesh’s story of her trip on 80 separate trains around the world is a lovely travel fix, but at the same time left me feeling strangely flat.

Around the World in 80 Trains - Monisha Rajesh. A photograph of the book cover.

The whole train twist on Around the World in 80 days is nice but I sadly had a gripe as soon as I opened this book. No where do you get a map showing the journey taken. How is that even possible???

The kids and I have been recently enjoying MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman’s Adventures on Trains series, and when they’ve spoken about the books and the wonderful work of their illustrator Elisa Paganelli one of the things that they focus on is the value of maps at the start of each book showing the train journey. The fact that Around the World in 80 Trains misses this out seems like a major omission. I spent quite a while whilst reading looking at my big world map on the wall and trying to plot the route on it myself.

I understand that Rajesh is a journalist by background and I have to say that some of the chapters in the book did feel quite journalistic in style. They contain fantastic information, and some lovely stories, but they didn’t absorb me in the way that some travel writing does. It just didn’t quite feel like I was always there with Monisha, and her now husband Jem, which is what I need right now during lockdown.

There is no doubt that the journey undertaken was fascinating, and there are certain parts of the book that have me wanting to find out so much more about where she went, the history (both ancient and modern) of some of the places, and also to find more travel writing about them. The 10 days that they spent on an organised train tour of North Korea make me want to do similar, but I’m also intrigued to learn more about Tibet and also Xinjiang and Kazakhstan. Any recommendations of follow on books gratefully received if you an leave them in the comments down below.

There were also parts of their journey that I wish more had been written about. I was hugely disappointed with their time in Russia. It was as if they didn’t really want to be there and hence hardly anything was written about Moscow in particular. One review I have read online (since finishing the book) talks about how it only really comes alive in the North Korea and Tibet chapters and I have to say that I totally agree. If there had only been the same level of detail about Russia and other places that they visited it would have been so much better. I was amazed that in some places she just wrote about how they got there and went straight to their hotel and watched a film on Netflix. I know the book was about train travel, but I just felt that saying nothing about some of their key destinations was wrong.

Around the World in 80 Trains was Rajesh’s second book after a first in which she travelled Around India in 80 Trains. With her family having previously moved from Sheffield to Madras for two years in hope of making India their home, I’m keen to learn not only about the trains of India, but also about how she describes the country and the experiences she has en route. I hope that the places she visited have the North Korea and Tibet levels of detail rather than that on Tokyo or Moscow!

Around the World in 80 Trains is available to buy online here.

Disclaimer: The links in this post are affiliate links and if you use them to buy anything I will receive a small commission whilst it will cost you no more than usual. Thank you for any purchases made. Your support is very much appreciated.

Ladybird Tuesday – Christmas Customs

December 1, 2020 by penny Leave a Comment

I’m making a massive effort to get onto my 2021 resolutions early with a determination to get Ladybird Tuesday back on track. I’ve said that several times over the last few years, but life has that annoying habit of getting in the way. With a toddler who now occasionally lets me get my laptop out and doesn’t try to sit on it when I do, I’m a tad more hopeful that I was on previous attempts.

With today being the 1st of December I’m also determined to dig out some festive titles from my Ladybird collection. These might not be the oldest books in my collection, but they’re certainly appropriate for this time of year.

Christmas Series

I’m starting off with Christmas Customs, a title that was published in 1988 as part of Series 8818. This isn’t a series that I’m very familiar with, as it’s a little later than most of my collection, but a bit of research suggests that there were a total of six titles in the series. Looking at Nicole’s amazing master list of Ladybird books (here is you’re not familiar with it) it lists the following as being published between 1988 and 1991:

Christmas Customs
Christmas Songs
The Christmas Mouse
The Christmas Story
Toad’s Christmas Party
Well Loved Carols

Only three of these titles are listed on the series list on the back of my book – Christmas Customs, Christmas Songs and Well Loved Carols – and that seems to fit with those three being the first titles published in the series.

What is lovely about Christmas Customs is that the book actually goes somewhat further than the title suggests. As well as covering the Christmas Story and the Christian customs that many of us are familiar with, the book also looks back at the Saturnalia which was celebrated by the Romans who honoured Saturn. They were the first to decorate their homes with evergreens (to remind Saturn to send crops and plants for food the following spring) and this tradition continued to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. The book looks at why holly, ivy and mistletoe were chosen to be used to do this.

The influence of the Victorians

Christmas Trees came over to England from Germany with Prince Albert in 1846, and whilst I knew that I have to admit that I wasn’t totally familiar with the original story of Martin Luther’s tree.

Ladybird Christmas Customs Victorian Traditions

The Christmas Tree wasn’t the only Christmas Custom that was introduced in Victorian times. It was also when the first Christmas cards were sent, and the first Christmas Crackers pulled.

This morning my children opened the first door on their advent calendar, and I suppose it’s a bit disappointing that the book talks about these, but now where they came from. A quick search online suggests they were first used by German Lutherans in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Christmas around the world

Christmas Customs can vary from country to country and as well as introducing us to Santa Claus the book also talks about St Nicholas (or Sinterklaas as he is known in The Netherlands), Christkindl (Germany’s Christ Child) and Befana who delivers gifts to Italian children on 6 January each year.

For many people food traditions are an important part of their Christmas celebrations. But why do we eat mince pies, turkey and Christmas puddings? It’s worth reading to find out.

What’s in a name?

Many children wonder why Boxing Day is called what it is. Some think of people donning boxing gloves for the day, whilst others think about all the boxes that their gifts came in the day before. The real reason for the name comes from medieval times, when alms boxes were placed at the back door of every church to collect money for the poor. These boxes were always opened on 26th December and so that is why the day became known as Boxing Day.

I’ve actually learnt quite a few new facts from reading this book. I wasn’t aware before that the word pantomime means “all mime” and that the first pantomimes were acted out entirely through dancing and mime. They’ve become such a huge Christmas tradition that I know many of us will miss this year in particular.

It can be so easy to be caught up in the commercialism of Christmas, but even if you’re not religious yourself, it’s lovely to try to understand some of the Christmas customs, why we do them and when they originated. Christmas Customs is actually a perfect way to start filling in some of the gaps in my knowledge.