L is for Ladybird

It is sad that I no longer have the copies of these vintage Ladybird books and even more sad that they are now collectors items fetching ludicrous prices. Ladybird Books are a nostalgia things for me on two fronts, having read them myself as a child and then the collection we inherited that I read to my own children. But then of course (because sometimes they just can't leave well alone) Ladybird updated the illustrations and the stories and they just weren't the same. The modern illustrations have a nasty plastic cartoon quality with harsh artificial colours. While the Peter and Jane early readers are best consigned to the history books along with their tired sexual stereotypes there is much to recommend these traditional story books. My particular favourite ones are in the Well Loved Tales series. The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Chicken Licken were both books that I could recite from memory when we were out walking, in fact any wooden bridge we crossed would be called a 'trip trap bridge' and would spark a game of trolls (I think I usually got to be the troll). I love them because they are often silly, but are making a point about life without labouring it or being preachy. They pose a situation for the protagonist which then prompts the question, what would you do?

 Three Billy Goats Gruff has a slightly simplistic message about standing up to bullies, or maybe about standing up for people who are smaller and weaker than you (or maybe just facing your fears?) but I like the troll and the trip trapping over the bridge bit, it's nicely theatrical to read aloud:

Chicken Licken is about stupid people following the crowd and getting what's coming to them:

The Elves and the Shoemaker is about hard work and helping others and gratitude:

 The Magic Porridge Pot is about being careful what you wish for (and also maybe the importance of remembering instructions carefully):

 The Enormous Turnip is about the importance of cooperation:

What's not to love?

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K for Katie and Korky

'Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers' by Mairi Hedderwick, according to her wiki page, is just one of a series that now runs to fourteen books about this engaging little girl and the community she lives in.

In this story we have the lovely contrast between the two grandmothers; Grannie Island with her welly boots and dungarees, and Granma Mainland who comes with fancy hats and perfume. Apparently the island grandparent was initially going to be a grandad but in the end she turns out to be a great role model of strong, self-reliant womanhood. Katie Morag loves them both but you get a sneaky feeling that her loyalty really lies with island life.

What is so lovely about these books is the complete little community that Mairi Hedderwick has created for her characters. Inside the front cover of each book is this drawing of the bay where they live showing the homes of the people who appear in the stories. There is a matching one inside the back cover with the village in darkness at the end of the story:

So the island is having it's annual Show and everyone is getting ready for it. I love the mass of detail in each of the pictures, people busy going about their daily lives, the whole thing has such a wonderful atmosphere. (I guess it is a slightly naive and idealised view of isolated rural existence but I don't think there's any harm in longing for a simpler life.)

Grannie Island's prize sheep gets in a bit of a mess so between them she and Katie Morag manage to give her a wash and brush up in the family bathroom so she can win the competition. Everything about these books is lovely, just every day stories about the trials of growing up, but also giving children a picture of island life, for most children probably very different to their own.

Today Katie Morag has to share her post with Korky Paul, probably most famous for his illustration of Winnie The Witch (with Valerie Thomas), which was on the list but really there were too many I wanted to write about. Creature has her own personal drawing of Winnie, done for her by Korky Paul himself when she went to a book signing:

Instead I am going to give a quick mention to 'The Fish Who Could Wish' (with John Bush), the ultimate story of be-careful-what-you-wish-for. We had a CD-ROM game of this book that the children all loved.

And the inimitable 'Professor Puffendorf's Secret Potions' (with Robin Tzannes) in which Professor Puffendorf goes out and her lazy grumbling assistant Enzo decides to test some of her secret potions on her unsuspecting guinea pig named Chip. Little does he know that Chip is a lot smarter than you might imagine and the outcome of the evening takes an unexpected turn. Creature learned to count to five from reading this book. I think it was a charity shop find and it rapidly became a most requested book.

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J for Jake and Timmy

These books could have been written for our family, and were again purchased for Jacob. They recount the antics of a very badly behaved little boy called Jake, who just happens to have a cat called Timmy (Tish's nickname when she was little was Timi).

'The Day Jake Vacuumed' by Simon James

In the first book Jake has been asked by his mum to do some vacuuming. You can tell by the worried look on Timmy's face that it's not a good idea:

It's not long before poor Timmy gets sucked up:

Swiftly followed by his mum, his "horrible goody-goody sister", his dad, and finally the entire page of the book (cue non-diegetic segment where he sits in a white empty space and wonders what to do next):

Of course this is all a bit too much for the poor vacuum cleaner which promptly explodes. His dad is pretty annoyed (though I always had a lot more sympathy with this angry dad over the one in HOTREC) and sends him to bed with no supper ... but as Jake muses with relish "At least he knew he'd never be asked to do the vacuuming again."

Others in the series include, 'Jake and the Babysitter', in which the unwitting parents invite an escaped gorilla in to look after Jake and they wreck the house:

and 'Jake and his cousin Sidney', in which Jake gives his baby cousin a bath and floods the house. They are all a great treat for small children who just love to hear stories about misbehaviour, and of course for parents it allows you appreciate how good you've got it.

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I for I'll take you to Mrs Cole

Large portions of my children's book collection were lost to me when I divorced, I mourn them more than any of the other shared possessions I left behind, but this one, 'I'll take You to Mrs Cole' by Nigel Gray and Michael Foreman, is one that I have repurchased because I loved it so much.

This book is the story of a young boy and fear of the unknown. He is an only child and seems to look after himself while his mum goes to work, often making a mess and failing to do any of the chores she leaves for him (social services would probably be down on her like a shot nowadays). 

Her response is always to threaten to take him to Mrs Cole. She lives down the street "in a dirty house, in a noisy house, with lots of kids under her feet." He begins to wonder what must be so bad about Mrs Cole, how badly she must treat her children. He imagines them being made to scrub the floors or else locked up in "a dark and dismal dungeon with green and slimy walls" and fed to the crocodiles.

But one day he decides to run away from the washing up and goes over the road to Mrs Cole's house. In spite of the jungly garden and the broken window, in spite of her "straggly hair" and "scruffy cardigan", the house is warm and smells of bacon, so he goes inside. Another pretty worrying scenario but we'll just go with the story and let it unfold. It turns out this house has everything a small boy could want; a grown up who doesn't complain about the mess, tea with sugar, puppies, lots of friends to play with, and, most of all, noise. The message being, things aren't always what they seem and taking chances can sometimes pay off.

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H for Hippopotamus

This is another rather dog-eared looking book, and it was certainly very well read. 'There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake' by Hazel Edwards, illustrated by Deborah Niland. We return here to children's imagination but with a whole new take on the 'imaginary friend'. The little girl in this story explains the presence of a leak in the roof with the idea that there is a hippo on the roof, and he then becomes the focus for her interests and wishes.

She rides a bike so the hippo is riding a bike, only he can ride wherever he likes. She takes a bath but the hippo can have a shower. The hippo can eat cake whenever he likes and watch telly whenever he likes.

Then things take a slightly sinister turn, and this is probably the most unpleasant picture I have ever encountered in a children's story, the father glaring down and the little girl looking completely miserable and unloved. She draws on her daddy's book with crayons and so he smacks her  ... shock horror! Published in 1980 I guess it predates the shift in societal attitudes which nowadays are very much opposed to corporal punishment by parents.

She comforts herself with the idea of the hippo; "Down here no one is my friend. My hippopotamus lives on the roof. He's my friend. I know. He isn't cross. No one smacks him. He's too big. He can draw anything. There's a hippopotamus on our roof drawing with crayons." 

Some men come to fix the leaking roof but the hippopotamus is clever and he sneaks down the ladder while the men have lunch so they don't see him. But he comes back and is bound to be getting up to some more mischief soon. I'm sure we had all sorts of wildlife colonising out house after this story. A real favourite.

Honourable mention today for Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy by Lynley Dodd which is a lovely story told in silly rhymes of a doggy outing brought to an abrupt end by a very scary cat.

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G for Guess How Much

This is not a book from my children's childhood although it was published in 1994; in a rare moment of uncharacteristic romantic sentimentality Dunk bought this book for me and I have included it in my A to Z because it is rightly considered a classic.

Guess how Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram, is the story of Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare and the eternal problem of measuring how much you love someone. The moon is probably as far away as a child can imagine too.

I like the book because it reminds me of the time I encountered a young hare down a quiet farm track, it hopped along in front of my van but didn't run away; they are the most beautiful of creatures. It is a wonderfully simple simple story, which I guess is its charm. The lovely pictures focus on the relationship between the two of them, just playing around under the trees together. I think the book has as much appeal to parents because it puts into words the unfathomable nature of the way you love your children. It is the perfect bedtime story.

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F for Firth

I confess I am using the letters of the alphabet to suit my own devices. Martin Waddell is going to get his own post so this one is dedicated to the illustrator Barbara Firth, who, I find, sadly died only a few weeks ago. Her wonderful pictures are the perfect foil for his simple enchanting stories. 

Ones that we came back to time and again were Park in the Dark, about three toys who take themselves off on an adventure to the swings:

and Big Bear and Little Bear, on their many expeditions in the snow and in their cosy cave:

My favourite was Sam Vole and his Brothers. 

I pick this one because it was always for Jacob; it is about a younger sibling struggling for independence. Sam Vole always feels like he is playing second fiddle to his big brothers and so one day decides to go 'voling' alone. To begin with it's great fun by himself, "He voled and he voled all by himself and he sang and he danced, for he liked it so much without brothers": 

but gradually he begins to feel lonely, "He voles and he voled all by himself. Then he stopped and he stood and he listened. He didn't like it at all without brothers", and he wishes that maybe his brothers were there, and then  there they are, and they all vole happily home together:

It is a lovely story about how siblings get along, about having your own space and time to do your own thing, but enjoying playing together as well.

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