LADYBIRD KEYWORDS

LADYBIRD KEYWORDS is the perfect educational aid for any teacher or parent looking to help their child learn to read. Our full set includes all of the ladybird keywords, plus a set of helpful flash cards and a detailed teaching guide to help get you started. Take the worry out of teaching your child to read with LADYBIRD KEYWORDS.

History

The first book in the series, LADYBIRD series 641, was published in 1964, and the series was completed by the first publication of the 36th book in 1967. Over 80 million books in the series have been sold worldwide, and the books remain in print in 2012.

The books were designed as materials for teaching a small child to learn to read, using a system of key phrases and words devised by teacher William Murray. Murray was an educational adviser at a borstal and later headmaster of a “school for the educationally subnormal” in Cheltenham. From research undertaken in the 1950s by Murray with Professor Joe McNally, an educational psychologist at the University of Manchester, Murray realized that only 12 words account for a quarter of the vocabulary used in normal speaking, reading and writing in the English language, 100 words for half, and 300 words for three-quarters.

Starting with book 1a, a budding reader of primary school age, from 3 to 5 years old, is introduced to brother and sister Peter and Jane, their dog Pat, their Mummy and Daddy, and their home, toys, playground, the beach, shops, buses, and trains, and so on. The first book uses the 12 key words which are used repeatedly (“Here is Peter”, “Peter is here”, “Here is Jane”, “Jane is here”, “I like Peter”, “I like Jane”). Additional words are introduced gradually, page by page, to expand the reader’s reading vocabulary, with the new words on each page set out in a footnote. The reader can consolidate their learning with books 1b, or practice writing in book 1c, all with the same vocabulary; or progress to book 2a (and 2b and 2c), and so on, with 12 sets of three books in all.

Two more characters, Simon and John, were introduced further into the series, as the books developed in length and detail to become targeted at growing children who had developed further reading skills. There two characters are cousins of Peter and Jane.

Illustrations

All of the books are small, thin hardback volumes with 56 pages, measuring 112x170mm (41/2” x 63/4”). Each book has text on a left page and an illustration on the facing right page, drawn by artists Harry Wingfield, Martin Aitchison, Frank Hampson, Robert Ayton and John Berry. The illustrations vary in style from book to book, depending on artist, but Peter and Jane are recognizable throughout. The clear sans serif typeface used in the books starts at a larger size and gradually becomes smaller as the reader progresses through the series. The sentence structure also becomes gradually more complex. The books were first published in 1964, with a firmly 1950s feel to the illustrations, provided by the furniture and clothing depicted and the social context reflecting the life of a white, middle-class family. The books were revised and updated in 1970, and again in the late 1970s, to reflect changes in fashions and in social attitudes. For example, golliwogs were airbrushed out; Daddy takes a more active domestic role; and Jane moved out of skirts and dresses into jeans, and abandoned her dolly for rollerskates. However, Peter still goes out to help Daddy, or actively plays with a ball, while Jane stays indoors to help Mummy, passively watches Peter, or plays with her doll.