Ladybird Books

One advantage to personal library building in Canada is the influence of the British culture and its literature. Used book sales abound with titles originally found on the shelves of British subjects. (pardon the pun)


One such find consists of the Ladybird Books still published today in England although the format has changed, not surprisingly to reflect more modern interests of children. These compact but sturdy books were first published in 1940 and included at least 63 different series ranging from topics like Natural History, Religious, People at Work, Adventures in History and more. I love the non-fiction titles, especially the Nature books. The illustrations are perfect in detail and charm.


So far I have found nine titles that endeared themselves to me:
Everyday Words for Numbers
People at Work: The Soldier
People at Work: The Farmer
London
Stamp Collecting
The Story of Saint Paul
Flight Two Canada: A Ladybird Book of Travel Adventure
Garden Flowers

And my most recent find:
Plants and How They Grow

Note the unique ladybug logo on the upper right hand corner of the book which identifies it as a Ladybird Book.
The Wee Web and Vintage Ladybird are two excellent resources for learning more about these vintage books. And this Flickr group, Vintage Ladybird Books can you provide you with a quick look at many of the covers and inside pages of these collectible books.

What's For Lunch, Charley?

Hands down, this is one of my favorite books ever. Published in 1961 by Scholastic Book Services, I read it countless times growing up and still like to breeze through this chapter book from time to time.
Sandwich, milk, fruit and cookie. That's what Charley has for lunch everyday as long as he manages to remember to take his lunchbox to school. And the day he forgets? He decides to go out. To the King Charles Hotel of course. But as he orders his fancy hotel lunch, he momentarily forgets one important thing. Food costs money. Thankfully, kind adults help smooth over an awkward situation and Charley learns about having new experiences to grow from. The story written by Margaret Hodges and the illustrations by Aliki pair up to give us a wonderful story from a different era.