649
- Bible
Animal, birds and plants of the Bible 1964
Life in New Testament times 1968
The history of our Bible 1971
What to look for inside a church 1972
What to look for outside
a church 1972
Wills & Hepworth published books with a religious theme at the start of the 40's but even though they seem to be found everywhere, they didn't sell very well. And were largely sidelined by the other curriculum areas. However, the bible wasn't abandoned altogether, as this intermittent series shows. ABP was written by Hilda Rostron and illustrated by Clive Uptton, the same team responsible for several of the other religious 606 series. Clearly, Hilda had a superb knowledge of the bible (or had lots of spare time!) since she drew out references to the three title areas, complete with chapter and verse. The references to Cedar trees, horses and ostriches are all explained as an encyclopaedia might, with no spiritual overtones.
By
the time the second volume came along, the dust-jacket had (sadly) vanished, as
had the author and illustrator. In stepped Ralph Gower (for his first and last
Ladybird book) and Eric Winter respectively. Life in New Testament Times neatly
sums up the contents - a mixture of historical and social details. The inside
front cover also gave a list of bible references for readers to check out. Three
more years passed, then "the History of our Bible" was released, retaining
the services of Winter and recruiting P.J. Hunt (responsible for this and the
final two volumes) as author. The story starts in 1300 and documents the struggle
to have the bible printed and made available to all. It follows the layout and
style of the previous volume in many respects.
The
two "inside & outside" a church volumes both feature attractive
collage style covers, perhaps reflecting Ladybird's wish to move with the times
design-wise. Artist Ronald Lampitt illustrated these and another 7 books for Ladybird
in a proficient and somewhat "grainy" style. First editions featured
a cut-away interior and exterior of the church in question. Curiously, when they
were later subsumed under the "Religious Topics" series, alongside books
from 606A and 612), "Outside" lost the cutaway whilst "Inside"
kept it!