Gavin McDermott

This was a proper trip down Memory Lane and as well as the Ladybird books themselves had lots of the original artwork as well as details about the artists, too.

Okay, all of the artists seemed to be men and smoked a pipe, but it was nice to see some of my favourites such as The Elves and the Shoemaker again.

Actually, slightly rubbish too was the not-so-subtle gender stereotyping on the book covers such as about jobs people did, where the boys could be policemen and firemen with cool uniforms, and the girls could only have a spoon or a rubbish nurse outfit with a silly hat. Also, Peter got to climb trees and Jane could only look on in her impractical dress. Hmmm… The Good Old Days, eh?