691
- Mammals
African mammals 69
Australian mammals 70
North American mammals 70
European mammals 71
Asian mammals 71
South American mammals 72
Sea and Air mammals 72
John Leigh-Pemberton was both author and illustrator of this short-lived
series, covering mammals from all parts of the world. It was a typical Ladybird
theme, both educational, interesting and offering a wide variety of colourful
subjects to illustrate. Over the 3 years of the series' life, Leigh-Pemberton
covered such diverse creatures as kangaroos, yapoks, banana arts, brindled
gnus, wapiti and chamois (the latter gaining much fame as a highly effective
window-cleaner)
As
well as illustrations and salient facts about each of the creatures, the
books contained atlases showing vegetation and habitats of the continent
in question, plus an index of the various orders and families the creatures
belonged to. In short, they were ideal reference material for scholars
both young and old, appealing to our endless fascination for unusual and
exotic creatures.
Leigh-Pemberton
was one of the companies most reliable servants, starting out with the
Book of Garden Flowers in 1960 and continuing for over 20 years. His output
was almost exclusively based on flora and fauna, except for the reworking
of "Kings & Queens of England", issued in 1981.
As a series, they are not especially easy to collect, with later volumes seeming harder to find than the earlier ones. As far as I know, the series didn't reappear as part of the "natural history" spined books. Curiously enough, the 1973 book by Leigh-Pemberton entitled "Disappearing mammals" was issued as part of the 727 Conservation series.
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