November 2011
3 posts
3 tags
Ladybird Books Deconstructed
I have been forced to have a radical rethink on the seminal influence of Ladybird books. A friend has just been round and dived with glee in to the box of covers - ‘Oh The Nurse! that was my favourite.’ All her nostalgic joy was directed at the educational ones - and as she is an Oxford educated Renaissance Woman who can unblock an S bend with one hand, while writing books about the...
3 tags
Gender Bending Ladybirds: the Box Set
Shameless bout of nostalgia brought on by the box set of Ladybird cover postcards that arrived in the post the other day. Ohhhhh! Beaky the Greedy Duck! That was MINE - in a family of five children, books were read by us all but we had a strong proprietorial sense of which ones belonged to us. One Christmas my brother and I received each other’s books - he had Puppies and Kittens and I got...
3 tags
Review: Far From Home
The opposite of Guilty Pleasure must be Worthy Read. And I must confess that when faced with a cover featuring an AK47 and those orange-y colours that usually denote war-torn African country, my instinct is to reach for the glitzy book next to it. The Frances Lincoln list is heavy on Guilt Trip Lit - and we love them for it. Because, generally, it means their books are well written and resonant....
