When I was a child, I absolutely loved the Ladybird Books series. I pretty much learned to read from the Ladybird Book of Ancient Egypt, and it certainly fired me up with an early and enduring interest in ancient history. I also clearly remember reading the “Peter and Jane and Pat the dog” books with my little sister in the early seventies (at least, she was my “little sister” back then. She’s been taller than me for decades…..).
Now, there is a whole new series that has just been published of Ladybird Books for Grown-ups. They are described as “a series of Ladybird books that have been specially planned to help grown-ups with the world about them. As in the other books in the series, the large, clear script, the careful choice of words, the frequent repetition and the thoughtful matching of text with pictures all enable grown-ups to think they have taught themselves to cope. The subject of the book will greatly appeal to grown-ups.”
The books make use of a selection of original illustrations from the sixties and seventies, coupled with modern, witty, and distinctly subversive text. Together, the effect is absolutely hilarious. Titles in the series so far are:
- The Ladybird book of the Mid-life Crisis
- The Ladybird book of Dating
- The Ladybird book of the Hipster
- The Ladybird book of the Hangover
- The Ladybird book of the Shed
- The Ladybird book of Mindfulness
- How it works: The Wife
- How it works: The Husband
- How it works: The Mum
When I was at a meeting in Oxford a few months ago, I had a bit of time to kill before the meeting started so I went into Waterstones Bookshop, with the intention of doing some browsing along the shelves of “serious books”. Instead I emerged clutching the first of these Ladybird books. I enjoyed it so much, that I now have the whole collection, and have the next one (How it works: The Dad) on pre-order from Amazon. There are a lot of home truths about the disappointments of adult life, covered in a way that makes you laugh out loud and then go “Ouch!”.
Highly recommended for anyone who grew up in the sixties and seventies, and remembers the originals with nostalgia.
