Helen Day
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Helen Day
@lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
12K followers 1.2K following 1.8K posts
Devoted to vintage Ladybird books and the other work of their artists. My exhibition The Wonderful World of the Ladybird Artists has been travelling since 2018. Twitter: @lbflyawayhome
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Ladybird wisdom, 1975

“With so much noise in the world, we have to listen carefully to the things that are worth hearing”

(‘Sounds’, Artist: BH Robinson)
A boy listens intently to an album on a record player while in outline beside him we see an aeroplane, lorry and motorbike
November 17, 2025 at 8:13 AM
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The modern world in old Ladybird.

Hovercraft on the Thames, 1972
Artist: Frank Humphris
Tower Bridge is raised as the hovercraft passes beneath, watched from the bank by curious passers by
November 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
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“On a willow twig a kingfisher perches. It watches the eels with interest, but these are well-grown and too big for him to catch”

‘What to Look for in Autumn’
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe Writer:
EL Grant Watson
A tiny kingfisher gleams out from dense overarching willows bordering a narrow river
November 16, 2025 at 8:17 AM
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Other work by the Ladybird artists.
Monsal Dale in Autumn
Cover picture, Readers Digest, 1983
Artist: SR Badmin
A scene full of intense autumnal colour, looking towards distant hills and crags with foreground of river and a farmstead
November 15, 2025 at 8:06 PM
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Jobs for pocket money

(Helping at Home, 1961)
Artist: Harry Wingfield
A boy and a girl ‘help’ their dad to wash the car parked outside on the drive, while dad looks on and smokes his pipe looking pleased with himself
November 15, 2025 at 8:23 AM
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Just look at this joy of a photo.
Jane’s shop - a study for an illustration in one of the first books I remember: Peter and Jane 1b (1963)
Artist: Harry Wingfield
Original reference photograph showing Jane posing in front of a table covered with toys The completed artwork of Peter and Jane and Pat the dog, playing at ‘shops’
November 14, 2025 at 6:45 PM
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Happy Friday!

‘Gallant Old Engine’ (1962)
(Ladybird Artist John Kenney also illustrated for Rev. W. Awdry’s Railway Series)
Scene from Railway Series book of a red steam engine battling through rain and gale - with a very annoyed look on its face
November 14, 2025 at 8:10 AM
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Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘November on the Dorset Coast’
Whitbread calendar 1971
Artist: SR Badmin
Close-up of the flora to be found in autumn along a coastal hedgerow near white cliffs
November 13, 2025 at 8:11 PM
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Ladybird book in the Spotlight.
Underwater Exploration, 1967.
(Particularly haunting illustrations)
Artist: B Knight
Front cover of the book, featuring two divers and a ray
November 13, 2025 at 8:26 AM
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Other work of the Ladybird artists.
The Beech Wood
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
The scene looks as if it has come straight out of the pages of ‘what to look for in autumn’ but is not. The scene focuses on the woodland floor and the creatures who live among the lovely rusty leaves
November 12, 2025 at 8:38 PM
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Original Ladybird artwork - John Berry’s sensitive portrait of the ‘handler’ in a scene from ‘The Pottery Makers’ (Stoke on Trent, 1969)
A photo-realistic illustration of a woman working at a Stoke on Trent factory, carefully producing the handles for a cup
November 12, 2025 at 7:44 AM
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Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘November’ (1958)
Artist: Ronald Lampitt
The bottom of a very large garden sees lots of gardening activity on a sunny autumn day. A man digs a border, a woman and small dog sweep up and another woman wheelbarrows away debris
November 11, 2025 at 7:05 PM
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Other work of the Ladybird artists.
The delicacy and detail here
‘Autumn Wedding’
Artist : SR Badmin
A finally detailed mixed media illustration of an old church completely surrounded by autumn trees. Right in the foreground, near the Lichgate, a wedding scene is taking place
November 11, 2025 at 8:08 AM
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The Ladybird look
The quilted anorak, 1973.
(Did we all have one?)
Artist: Martin Aitchison
Two children, Peter and Jane, show their tickets to walk onto a train platform. Jane‘s anorak is green and Peter’s is blue.
November 10, 2025 at 8:22 PM
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I once found this very touching inscription in a book:

“This book belongs to Gillian Love, aged 7
8
10
12
60”
The front cover of the ladybird book sleeping beauty
November 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
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“Among the fallen beech leaves”

Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
(What to Look for in Autumn, 1960)
A red squirrel is pictured burying a nut at the foot of a beech tree while nearby we see a hen blackbird - and a jay flying overhead
November 9, 2025 at 8:06 AM
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The Ladybird look.
The skirted swimming costume (1976).
Artist: Martin Aitchison
Peter and Jane are playing on the beach, running over the sand and climbing over an upturned boat
November 8, 2025 at 7:32 PM
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"I'll make you one"
Ladybird Picture Dictionary
Artist Eric Winter (1967)
Father shows a home-made dolls house (it’s large and looks pretty professional) to his daughter
November 8, 2025 at 8:36 AM
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I bought these old RSPB magazines for their CF Tunnicliffe cover pictures. They look so good together (with that delicious typeface!)
12 different RSPB magazines called ‘bird notes’ laid out in a grid to show the bird illustrations on the front
November 7, 2025 at 7:50 PM
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Other work by the Ladybird artists
Red Squirrel
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
A pair of squirrels pose with great drama high up on a branch of scots pine.
November 7, 2025 at 8:16 AM
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"When lamps are lighted in the town" (1968)
Artist: A Buchanan
An illustration of night time at a tiny harbour in a fishing village. The scene is in shades of grey and blue broken by the bright yellow light of a window
November 6, 2025 at 8:20 PM
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Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘November Farm Work’
Farm Crops in Britain - Puffin Picture Book, 1955
Artist: SR Badmin
November 6, 2025 at 8:17 AM
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“A tawny owl is looking down from its high vantage point at the great bonfire”
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL Grant Watson
The viewpoint of this picture is the owl’s as it looks down from a great height at the brightly burning bonfire
November 5, 2025 at 8:25 PM
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Other work of the Ladybird artists

‘Bonfire Night’ (1951)
Artist: Ronald Lampitt
A view looking down on a group of families surrounding a lit bonfire. Almost all the illumination in the picture comes from the bonfire and the contrast is warm and striking
November 5, 2025 at 8:20 AM
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Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘Autumn scene’
Artist: Ronald Lampitt
Seen from the cover of a John Bull magazine looking down on an idealised village in autumn with a bonfire prepared and children playing football on the green
November 4, 2025 at 7:28 PM