Post-Achievements

I recently posted an homage to a Ladybird "Achievements" Book: The Story of Railways. Long since out-of-print, that 1961 pocket hardback was a classic: it told a complicated story simply in just two dozen double-page spreads, each illustrated by a specially commissioned illustration. The writing style was simple, direct and pleasing.


By the 1970s, Ladybird books had, to my mind, lost their way. Out went the simple illustrations that gave so much of the "feel" to the books, to be replaced by not particularly brilliant photography. Also out was the double page-spread concept, to be replaced with a running narrative. The graphics were "jazzed up" and, in the process, lost their "timeless" feel (see the front cover, below, for the unnecessary and gimmicky framing to the title).

Here, to illustrate, is 1979's (long out-of-print) Ladybird Book of Steam Locomotives of the World. For those who like that sort of thing, the text is also a fascinating insight into Narcissistic beliefs from an age of dying Imperialism (a range of locomotives believed long-extinct was "discovered" in operation in Java, eh...?). I have to say that the writing style also annoys me: the first person narrative now sounds patronising (like one of those tiresomely didactic children's tv programmes) rather than, as they used to be, simply telling you the facts straight.

Enough whining from me: see what you think (you can click to enlarge throughout):






























I feel so disloyal in not much liking this book. And I feel like a nostalgic old fool for yearning for the lost certainties of the older style.


But they were something special, weren't they?