So Just Who Was Biggles? Biggles first appeared in book form in 1932 when "The Camels Are Coming" was published by John Hamilton. His 96th, and last, appearance, as written by Captain W E Johns, was in Biggles Sees Too Much, published in 1970. During that time there was hardly an inch of the earth's surface or air space that he had not covered.
Originally for adults, examples of three dimensional or movable books date back to the 13th century. Since that time, this type of book has been used to beautifully illustrate fiction stories and serve as a learning tool initially for adults and then for children. They are more expensive to produce and require specialised skills so there are few examples until the Bookano series was produced from 1929 for 20 years. These have lovely, colourful three dimensional pop ups which can be viewed from several angles. Bookano books (the name comes from Meccano which was also becoming popular at this time) are very collectible.
Lothar Meggendorfer, a German, is famous for his movable books. He originally created them for his son and went on to create over 200 from the middle of the 19th Century. The pop up mechanisms and movable parts in his books are some of the most complex ever created. They have been so admired that there is a bi-annual Meggendorfer Prize awarded for outstanding paper engineering to the artist who has produced the most outstanding commercially published pop-up or movable book.
Every day we encounter advertising in one form or another, whether through television, radio, newspapers, post, the internet or advertising hoardings it forms part of our day to day lives. How much we are influenced by it is open to question. I find that there are certain adverts on television that I watch every time they are shown just because I like the music or they amuse me. Often I have no interest in the product and sometimes I fail to see the connection between the content of the advert and the featured product but this doesn't stop me repeatedly watching them. There are also adverts that I find intensely irritating but love them or hate them advertising is here to stay and can be a powerful way of getting a message across. I am proof that this message can remain with you for many years as I can still remember advertising jingles or phrases from 30 years ago for chocolate bars, carpet cleaner, tea, petrol, washing-up liquid, mashed potato etc.
Just a May Day holiday in ancient Rome...
As the days are lengthening and weather improving (in theory at least), many of you may be starting to look forward to the May Bank Holiday. It seems appropriate, therefore, to consider the ancient Roman festival which took place at the same time of year: the Floralia, in honour of the goddess Flora.
Flora, one of the most ancient deities in Roman religion, was a goddess of flowers, vegetation and fertility and she was one of 15 deities that had a state priest (known as a flamen) charged with overseeing her worship. According to legend her worship was introduced to Rome around 240 BC by a Sabine king with the rather splendid name of Titus Tatius. Her worship continued for a number of years before falling into decline, but her cult was reinstated in 173 BC after a series of poor harvests.
A lot has happened in the life of Rupert Bear since he was purchased from the Daily Express in 2005 by the family entertainment business, Entertainment Rights, for six million pounds. As well as a new home, Rupert has acquired a new look, new chums and a TV programme all of his own. While he has exchanged his brown boots for trendy trainers, Rupert is still instantly recognisable in his yellow check trousers and red jumper.
Aimed at children aged 2-5, Rupert's TV show, Follow The Magic, was launched in 2006 and has delighted youngsters ever since. Themes of the show are magic, adventure, fun, friendship and nature, blended with early learning activities. Children are encouraged to use their imaginations as they follow Rupert and his friends on magical journeys from Nutwood to Rocky Bay and beyond. The friends' exciting adventures are always based on an event in the natural world with emphasis on the importance of caring for the environment.
The Followers of Rupert Weekend 24th & 25th August 2012
The ‘Rupert Fair’ has become a pleasurable annual event for Stella & Rose’s Books - we have been attending as book sellers for as long as I have been involved with the business! The weekend consists of a meal for club members on the Friday evening followed by a full day of activities on the Saturday and a Gala Dinner in the evening.
As a Rupert collector I always enjoy the day and it’s a chance for us to meet old friends, find some new ones and hopefully sell a few books! For the last few years the event has been held at the excellent facilities at Warwick School. We are based in one of the school halls, along with another 10 or more dealers selling all manner of Rupert books, toys, pictures, models, badges and other Ruperty paraphernalia.
Why's Rupert Bear at Warwick School? He's never there as a rule Once a year it's that day When all his Followers come to play 200 friends from far and wide Are there to be at Rupert's side
Tony, well he's no dunce He has three jobs to do at once And then there's John who glides about And though in charge he'll never shout And in the corner another John Who sits and checks what's going on
Rupert's money is in the till It's always checked by his friend Phil Publications for our merry band That's where Alan lends a hand Rupert's library's safe and sound That's Louise I'll be bound More work's provided by two Mikes That's the help that Rupert likes Rupert's younger friends have Val and Eddie You'll need to get your paintings ready If you're a Follower that's just great If not, join now - it's not too late!
What a fun day we had, made even more exciting by the presence of a team from BBC television who were filming events and interviews for inclusion in a programme to help celebrate Rupert's 90th birthday! Who would have thought the little bear would have still been so popular after all these years? But popular he is as evidenced by the hundreds of Followers, both Junior and Senior, who gather each year to enjoy all things Ruperty.
Stuart Trotter (current Rupert artist and storyteller) was there to sign the new annuals; Ian Robinson (former storyteller) gave a talk about his new Rupert Companion book which looks at the development of Rupert over the years and at some of the ephemera and products that surround him; John Hunt presented a fascinating talk on modelling a 3D Rupert from the flat images of a picture. All this as well as the usual origami workshops, a magician, balloon modelling, face painting for the youngsters, the play - which this year had the Chums rescuing a princess from an evil wizard - and the opportunity to purchase everything Ruperty you could think of!
A great day to be had by all!
To give you a taster here are some more pictures from the Followers of Rupert Annual General Meeting 2009.
Rupert Follower's Meeting 28th August 2010 - A Preview
The day should be one to remember as the Followers Of Rupert celebrate the famous Bear's 90th birthday! Ian Robinson, author of the Rupert annual stories, will be presenting a talk on his time as the last Rupert Editor at the Daily Express and will also be available to sign and dedicate special bookplates for his book, The Rupert Companion. Advance copies of the new Rupert annual should be available and Stuart Trotter, the new Rupert artist, will be attending to sign them for you.
Great excitement in Nutwood! Saturday August 26th 2006 was the date of the 23rd annual meeting of the Followers of Rupert Bear.
Hundreds of Rupert Followers met in Warwick to chat about Rupert, browse and buy thousands of Ruperty items and to enjoy company of other like-minded Rupert fans.
This year we saw ownership of Rupert transferred from the Express Newspapers to a company called Entertainment Rights and rumours were rife that Rupert would be changed forever from the character we know and love so well to a cartoon character similar to Disney's Winnie-The-Pooh.
Nardis Roscoe, representing Rupert's new owners, gave an excellent talk and reassured us that New Rupert, like Disney's Pooh, is aimed at pre-school children and that Classic Rupert, like Classic Pooh, is safe - and aimed at older children and adults.
The Bard slept soundly in his graveBut saw in dream a friendly wave
What can that be that comes this wayHe says to wife Anne Hathaway
Legs cross gartered yelleeowThat must be Malvolio
The Bard was wrong despite his stareWhom did he see – twas Rupert Bear.
Warwick Castle glowers downOn to its charming little town
It's menace lifts when it does hearRupert and Friends are drawing near
The stony keep all sad and coldSees all the Followers, young and old
And just once a year within it's ruleSees jolly friends at Warwick School.
The Avon glides slow on its wayIt counts its Swans each and every day
When August comes its sums are wrongThere's one more Swan that's come along
Having recently come to know more about Ladybird books in general, I have been amazed at the great interest still shown in Series 561 - 'Adventures From History'.
There appears to be a variety of reasons why this series in particular continues to be so very popular today. Many people still like to collect each title as part of their full Ladybird books collection. Sometimes parents will come and buy copies for their children if, perhaps, they are doing a school project on a specific character from history. Others just prefer the simple but informative style that Ladybirds use, so that they can learn about different periods of history quickly and easily.
With fifty titles in the series all told, Adventures From History is the biggest series that Ladybird produced between 1940 and 1981. The first title, 'King Alfred The Great', was published with a dustwrapper in 1956 and the last title, 'William Shakespeare', was published some twenty-four years later in 1981.
With our big stock of Ladybird Books that come through Stella and Rose's Books, we often see which titles are most popular by how long they stay on our shelves.
A title that appears to not stay on our shelves very long is that of 'Tootles The Taxi and Other Rhymes' written by Joyce B. Clegg and illustrated by John Kenney. This being the case, I wondered why this book was so popular and sat down to read it myself.
With the title, which I always refer to as 'Tootles', you could be led to believe that the book is mostly about a taxi by that name (well, that is what I thought anyway). To my surprise the rest of the title 'And Other Rhymes' describes the book more accurately. 'Tootles' is just the first rhyme in the book, with every subsequent page having a different vehicle and corresponding rhyme.
View current stock of Laydbird Nature Series 536
With many rhyming stories and fictional tales in their repertoire, Ladybird Books started adding educational titles to their ever expanding series of books for children.
Included among these educational titles are the four 'What to Look For' books in the 536 (Nature) series. These titles see the pairing of experienced biologist and writer Elliot Lovegood Grant Watson and famous illustrator Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe. The series explores all four seasons, and the changes and exciting events that could be observed during each season.
First to be published was 'What to look for in Winter' in 1959, followed by 'What to look for in Summer' and 'What to look for in Autumn' in 1960 and finally 'What to look for in Spring' in 1961.
The other day, I was handed some new Ladybird books that had come into our possession and was thrilled to see five of the six titles in 'The Adventures of Wonk' series.
This series, number 417, was the third series undertaken by Wills and Hepworth in their now familiar small Ladybird format. The books were all written by Muriel Levy ('Auntie Muriel of Radio fame' as it states on the title pages - see below right) and illustrated with beautiful and vivid full colour pictures by Kiddell-Monroe. Wills and Hepworth published them between 1941 and 1948.
Each title recounts the everyday adventures of Wonk, a sleepy, loveable Koala character, and his best friend, a young boy named Peter.
2015 marked the 150th anniversary of the original publication of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
A year of events to celebrate all things related to Alice have seen some wonderfully inspired activities, plenty of opportunities to take tea with a Mad Hatter, and our own Rose's Books at Hay-on-Wye have had a splendid window display with the kind assistance of Mr. Wakeling.
Partners Chris & Cliff, now enjoying their retirement in Portugal, have sent us details of the story covered in the Portuguese press!
Why rodents in children's books you may ask?
Simple answer - my husband and I are the proud owners of four beautiful dumbo-eared rats. We got our four girls ('does') back in March 2015.
After much deliberation (which pets should we get - cats? rabbits? hamster? rats?), we decided on rats. So we researched cages, food and all necessary equipment. When all this was purchased and set up, we had another choice to make: boys or girls? After much changing of our minds (we'll definitely have boys – two – called Caspian and Reepicheep – so we thought!), finally we decided on girls as they were just so pretty. We picked them up from a breeder not too far away from us and set about getting to know their individual characters.
In 1946 my family bought their first jeep – a Willys with a civilian registration DJY 201. 70 years later I still own and drive that jeep.
Above: Cliff in the jeep in 1956.
About 8 million horses died during World War One, they were used for transporting men, materials and guns. In World War Two the US Army needed a replacement for the horse and in early 1940 the US Army issued a specification. The Bantam Car Company and Willys-Overland were the only two companies that responded to the Army's call, although over 130 companies had been invited to respond. They had been given a 49-day deadline and Willys-Overland asked for more time to finish their vehicle.
Or, for those of you who enjoyed my previous article about our garden visitors, here are “More Garden Visitors” to our garden here in Portugal. Cliff and I have been settled here for a year now and continue to be amazed at the abundance and variety of wildlife we see right outside our back door. Mind you, we have to look very closely on occasions to see the beauty, or some would say peculiarities, of the little creatures that frequent our flowers and the nooks and crannies in the stone walls. Here are some we found particularly fascinating.
We have been fortunate in my part of the world (Hay-on-Wye, UK) to have enjoyed a glorious Autumn. The colours of the leaves as they have turned have been stunning – and the weather has been mild with some sunny days which have added to the beauty. The season is now turning to Winter. I know this is not a favourite season for many but I quite like Winter. Well actually, what I like is seasons to be seasons! So there should be a gradual warming with new plant growth and lambs in the fields in Spring, warmth and lazy sunny days in Summer, glorious colours in Autumn, with a gradual cooling towards Winter which should be cold, crisp and with snow on the hills!