Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery is the current host of the long-running touring exhibition, “The Wonderful World of the Ladybird Book Artists”, a collection loaned by Helen Day, curator of the indispensable Ladybird Fly Away Home vintage book site.
Running until 31st May 2025, this beautiful and colourful exhibition puts on display an unparalleled collection of books, original artwork and artefacts and shows how the numerous, talented Ladybird illustrators (including Frank Hampson and Frank Humphris of EAGLE comic fame) played such an enormous role in the extraordinary success of the company in the 20th century.
Explore topics such as the early years, fairy tales, nature, jobs and technology, learning to read, and history. The exhibition features captivating displays, including original hand-drawn art, wall-mounted books, and unframed books and ephemera showcased in cases.
One of the highlights of the exhibition is a spectacular giant wall of Ladybird books, showcasing an incredible collection of 480 titles. This nostalgic display is a must-see for book lovers and collectors alike, celebrating the charm and enduring legacy of these beloved classics.
The exhibition has toured extensively since 2021, and will next feature at Unshaw Historic House, Durham, From June until September 2025.
Helen Day has been interested in Ladybird books – vintage ones, published before 1975, for many years. She’s interested in the history, the artists who illustrated the books and the social history that their illustrations contain.
“I began as a collector,” she explains on her Ladybird Fly Away Home website, “but my interest soon broadened into a desire to gather and curate information about the company in the period before it was sold, in the mid-1970s.
“Through my website, blog and social media accounts I try to share my interest and enthusiasm. I also contribute to articles, exhibitions and tv programmes on the subject.”
• “The Wonderful World of the Ladybird Book Artists” runs until 31st May 2025 at Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery, Priestgate, Peterborough, PE1 1LF
• There are details of how to book the exhibition here (PDF)
• Ladybird Fly Away Home vintage book site | BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram | X
• Ladybird Books Official Site – part of Penguin RandomHouse
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, Books, downthetubes News, Events, Exhibitions, Other Worlds
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Yes, I’ve already caught this, living locally, and plan to return for another look, and to deliver my feedback form. Not a bad effort, for a provincial museum. I used to think Peterborough was “weak” on the creative front, until I learned that J. F. Horrabin, one of my favourite newspaper comic artists, was born here and was the local MP for a couple of years; and that Terence “Larry” Parkes was art master at one of the schools. Possibly the basis for a modest exhibition, particularly if the net were cast a little wider to take in Frank Bellamy and Roy Wilson (Kettering), Alan Davis (Corby), Ed McLachlan, Kevin Woodcock, etc. (Leicester), et al.
Dave