Look, Look!! the sun is shining upon Aberdeenshire today - how uplifting, how great to be able to pull up a chair and sit in the sun and drink coffee for a brief moment!!
Jennifer of
Little Birds Fly asked a question about my Lady Bird book collection (a previous blog post), and I thought I would indulge myself today, showing you some pictures etc.. from my collection.
Lady Bird books were first published back in the 1940's, and by the 1960s and 1970s the company's Key Words Reading Scheme (launched in 1964) was heavily used by British primary schools to help children learn to read. This series of 36 small-format hardback books presented stereotyped models of British family life – the innocence of Peter and Jane at play, Mum the housewife, and Dad the breadwinner.
In the 1960s, Ladybird produced the Learnabout series of non-fiction books, which right now probably make up the bulk of my collection - Click
here if you interested in learning more about Ladybirds History.
From a personal point of view, it was probably nostalgia that prompted me to begin collecting the books. I still remember pouring over the lavish illustrations of Cinderella as a child, and to spot a 'matt' edition in a charity shop or book sale feels like hitting the jackpot! I have mostly paid around 10p for each book, and the obscure topics that I often stumble upon never cease to amaze me.
Picture taken from 'The story of the Cowboy'
A favourite - 'Little Red Riding Hood', not sure why but the little girl always reminds me of my sister Jill..
NYC - taken from 'Flight 3 - United states of America'
British Wild Flowers
One of those obscure topics, with an amusing inscription:-
It amazes me how much pleasure you can gain from a simple, inexpensive collection, and the thrill of a new find - what do you collect?
