The selection of which vintage kids’ books are labelled as ‘collectables’ always seems a bit arbitrary to me, and I’m often surprised to discover how coveted some books are.
The gorgeous Ant and Bee series of 13 books by Angela Banner was published in the UK in the 60s, and republished in the late 80s and 90s. I love these books, but it seems incredible that even the newer editions are selling for extraordinary prices on Amazon and the secondhand book sites. Do people really pay hundreds of dollars for these?!
The books are some of the smallest you’d fine – and gorgeous hard backs editions. They are quite long – my one is 96 pages. Nevertheless – somewhat incongruously – they are intended for pre-schoolers and typically introduce basic concepts of the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colours. Key words are printed in red to help beginner readers associate the words with the illustrations, and sometimes pictograms are used.
When I first picked up my copy of Around the World with Ant and Bee (bought new, in the late 90s) it was a strangely familiar series. I still can’t quite put my finger on where I read this book when I was little, but it definitely left a strong impression. I had to buy the copy I found immediately…
The illustrations are very distinctive: it’s almost a naive style – flat, simple shapes, and Ant and Bee themselves have simple ‘stick’ legs and faces. Yet, there are also instances where the illustrations have great detail: in Around the World, there are beautiful images of different landscapes and cultures. The colouring is impeccably done – in gorgeous contrasting limes, reds, yellows and oranges.
The text is unusual and also quite distinctive – very repetitive (I guess to reinforce the teaching theme) and at times the turn of phrase is almost awkward, but I think this is one of the very endearing aspects of the books.
In Around the World with Ant and Bee, Bee loses his treasured umbrella, which somehow gets blown away and ends up on a plane and taken overseas. Ant and Bee must travel the world to find the umbrella, and through their visits to different parts of the world, we learn the name and shape of different countries and some distinctive features of the culture there.
I love the excitement of the journey Ant and Bee take and all the details of how they travel. There is something magical about holding a small book in your hands, and imagining the existence of even smaller creatures and their adventures.
The illustration style and colours, particularly the one second from the bottom of your post, very much remind me of another small book: Little Black Sambo. I’m fairly sure it would be regarded as non-pc, but I loved that story. Always hoped to meet a bunch of tigers so I could turn them into melted butter!
My 18 year old daughter Kat, has an Ant and Bee book, ” Happy Birthday with Ant and Bee”, which is still displayed on the top shelf of her bookcase now. She received the book for her birthday from a school friend, we think when she was 8 or 9. This was Kat and her sister Samantha’s favourite book for quite some time,and we all read it over and over. Key words (in this title , days of the week were highlighted in red.) We loved this book and reading this review just reminded me of the precious moments we spent sharing this great book. Thanks for this blog…we can now read the same books our children loved, to our grandchildren and of course the new ones you have introduced us to.
Why hasn’t this wonderful series of books been republished? It was suggested in the unofficial Ant and Bee website that there had been an announcement on January 28, 2008 that three of the series would be available in April. What became of that?
Someone is missing a bet in not republishing these marvelous books.
I had “Around the World With Ant and Bee” with me in hospital when I was having my tonsils out in 1954 or 1955, so they are earlier than the 1960s!
I’d love to see them again, but blowed if I’m going to pay through the nose for a copy…
Thanks Katie – I’ve just rediscovered my copy. I learnt to read with Ant and Bee. My step-dad made me little painted wooden Ant and Bee with wire legs which were kept in a matchbox!
I’ve borrowed a couple of your pictures for my blog.