The Ladybird offices and printing factory in Loughborough closed the same year, and much of the company's archive of historic artwork was transferred to public collections. However, falling demand in the late 1990s led Pearson to fully merge Ladybird into its Penguin Books subsidiary in 1998, joining other established names in British children's books such as Puffin Books, Dorling Kindersley and Frederick Warne. In the 1960s, Ladybird produced the Learnabout series of non-fiction (informational) books, some of which were used by adults as well as children.Īn independent company for much of its life, Ladybird Books became part of the Pearson Group in 1972. Many of the illustrations in this series were by Harry Wingfield, John Berry, Martin Aitchison, Frank Hampson and Charles Tunnicliffe. This series of 36 small-format hardback books presented stereotyped models of British family life: the innocence of Peter and Jane at play, Mum the housewife, and Dad the breadwinner. In the 1960s and 1970s the company's Key Words Reading Scheme (launched in 1964) was heavily used by British primary schools, using a reduced vocabulary to help children learn to read. Wills & Hepworth began trading as Ladybird Books in 1971 as a direct result of the brand recognition that their imprint had achieved in Britain. The ladybird logo has since undergone several redesigns, the latest of which was launched in 2006. From the beginning, the company was identified by a ladybird logo, at first with open wings, but eventually changed to the more familiar closed-wing ladybird in the late 1950s. He was joined by William Hepworth in 1904, and the company traded as Wills & Hepworth.īy August 1914, Wills & Hepworth had published their first children's books, under the Ladybird imprint. Within a decade he progressed to printing and publishing guidebooks and street directories. The company traces its origins to 1867, when Henry Wills opened a bookshop in Loughborough, Leicestershire.
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