Ladybird Tuesday: William Tell

Ladybird Tuesday again - as I've said, I like both the illustrations and the philosophy - cheap yet generally good quality books available to the masses. It's quite nice to see a recent surge in interest of these books, even if they're a wee bit flawed.

Mention the name William Tell and the two things you'll likely think of are the overture by Rossini or the image of a man being forced to shoot an arrow through an apple on his son's head. However, the story of William Tell is essentially the Swiss answer to Robin Hood, a folk legend of how the Swiss people, led by folk-hero and bowman Tell, rebelled against their Austrian occupiers and came to form what became Switzerland. Indeed, the apple incident occurred after Tell refused to bow to a despot Austria governor's demand to bow to the governor's hat atop a pole in a village square. As a do-or-die punishment, Tell has to shoot an apple off his own son's head, and as a good bowman manages to save his son's life as well as his own.

Ladybird Tuesday: Pinocchio

On this new blog, I also want to share some other things such as commentary and works that have influenced me, and maybe have the odd themed day or week. I can admit that there are some Ladybird Books that have influenced me with regards to my interest in folklore and which I also find interesting to look at from a design and illustration perspective. Looking around online, I stumbled across a blog called Being Mrs C, where the eponymous Mrs C posts about Ladybird books as part of a strand called Ladybird Tuesday. I can't see myself posting about Ladybird Books every Tuesday, but I thought it'd be interesting to examine some of my favourite Ladybird titles and share some pictures that otherwise are out-of-print and not on the internet.

I think that the original concept behind Ladybird Books, similar to the original concept behind Penguin Books, is a wonderful one - cheaply priced books aimed at educating and entertaining a wide readership without compromising on quality. In today's economic and cultural climate, I think we need it more than ever. Most of the Ladybird Books I ever had were their retellings of fairy tales, legends and classics. As I mentioned, I think that Ladybird Books definitely have influenced my interest in folklore and fantasy that continues to this day.