If you are interested in old Ladybird Fairy Tales, take care to sort out your 413s from your 606ds! And for more on 606ds, see below. Nursery Rhymes Read it yourself with Ladybird is one of Ladybird's best-selling series. For over thirty-five years it has helped young children who are learning to read develop and improve their reading skills. There is similar confusion over the immensely popular 606d – Well Loved Tales series. Many people are anxious to get hold again of the fairy tales they remember as a child. But there are 2 different versions of the same titles in the same series to look out for.Here you can see some examples of the 3 different formats in which the 606d books were issued. Many Ladybird books proved popular but became rapidly out of date, so the same titles were revised sometimes many times. There were often those connected with vehicles and technology.

Each Read it yourself book is very carefully written to include many key, high-frequency words that are vital for learning to read, as well as a limited number of story words that are introduced and practised throughout. Simple sentences and frequently repeated words help to build the confidence of beginner readers and the four different levels of books support children all the way from very first reading practice through to independent, fluent reading.But in the early 70s a further 6 of the original titles were reissued again; This time the cover changed for the last time to the full pictorial covers produced in the 70s and 80s. The Runaway Bunny’s First Birthday Bob Bushtail’s Adventure Mr Badger to the Rescue The First Day of the Holidays The Bunney-Fluff’s Moving Day A number of very different Ladybird books share the same title – just to confuse people: Tootles the Taxi

Two other books: Railways and Flight were re-issued with different covers, and slightly revised contents to encompass recent development. Topic: Adventure Animals Childhood Family and friends Food Health History Kindness Magic Natural world Oceans Science and technology Sport and hobbies Travel Look how far Ladybird had come between the 1940s and the 1980s! The Daddy of the Noel Barr stories would never had done anything so undignified – and the water might have put out his pipe. The final version of Bedtime Rhymes dates from 1995 and again seems to be an anthology of rhymes and lullabies – rather more traditional ones this time – such as Twinkle Twinkle.The later titles in this series (The parables) were only ever printed with this format cover. Well Loved Tales However, In the 1980s three of these titles were completely re-written and re-illustrated, with white, glossy boards. The titles were: Flight, Space and Underwater Exploration.

Of course the ‘Recognition’ series (584) was demanding in terms of revision. I have 6 different versions of ‘Motor Cars’ on my shelf. Here you can see the 3 versions of ‘Aircraft’ Another series that has been updated is the ‘Famous People’ series. At least, Diana and the Queen Mum had this honour – one revision when they were alive, and one after their death. No contest, is it. Still, I have to admit that both versions are very good at what they are designed for – they are still excellent to use with young children. Famous People Most of the books in this series were issued in only one version. However, Exploring Space was revised for obvious reasons.

Here’s another title originally from the wonderful 563 series which found it’s way, years later, into a different version: Although in later editions it was issued with fewer poems and plates, this book remained a favourite and made it through the DJ era and into the matt-boards era although printing seems to have stopped sometime before decimilisation. Then in 1977 an entirely different collection of poems was published as ‘Bedtime Rhymes’– this time an anthology by different writers, edited by Audrey Daly. Although quite a modern title, this one is already remembered with affection by parents who read the verses to their now grown up children. Judging by the number of people who enquire after this book, by far and away the most popular rhyme is “When Daddy Fell into the Pond”. Based on the classic fairy tale. Cinderella's dream of going to the prince's ball comes true when her fairy godmother appears. But she'd better be home by midnight... The prize for the most identity-confused series must go to the 727 Conservation series. As you will see below, sometimes titles from this series were issued with 2 very different covers but the same contents within them. However, the following two titles were originally published in series 536 (Natural History) and were completely re-written and re-illustrated before they turned up in the 727 series. In the case of ‘Wild Flowers’ the later version was illustrated with photographs (sigh). In the case of Butterflies and Moths, Leigh-Pemberton, who had originally only illustrated the 536 version (only!) was now given free reign. He wrote and illustrated the later version, and a very nice book it is too. Cinderella is a Level 1 Read it yourself title, suitable for very early readers who have had some initial reading instruction and are ready to take their first steps in reading real stories. Each story is told very simply, using a small number of frequently repeated words. Read more Details