Linked with this shift was a new approach to the curriculum. Under Beeby as assistant director-general from 1938, and as A key point of the Janet and John stories is the way that Terry Wogan was able to tell them in an entirely inoffensive manner. It may seem a contradiction, but the way he would burst out with uncontrollable laughter while telling the stories reassured listeners that it was all innocent innuendo perfectly suitable for being broadcast when children were listening. The stories seem far ruder in text than Terry would ever make them sound. Why is there a penis on the painting?’ says Jane. ‘Because God is dead and everything is sex,’ says mummy. But Ladybird’s self-satire isn’t the first of its kind. In 2014, London artist Miriam Elia poked fun at the Peter and Jane books. “ We Go to the Gallery” sees Peter and Jane brilliantly recreated, with Mummy taking the two children on a trip to a contemporary art space. Highlights include: Pat and May had of course played too. They played houses, pretended to be rabbits, dogs and horses, and made a row of chairs into a train. Nothing so wildly imaginative occurs to Janet and John. They seem unable to amuse themselves without a menagerie of pets and a cornucopia of expensive shop-bought props. By the end of Book 1, Here we go, they have played not only with a puppy and some kittens, but also with a swing, some boats, a toy plane, a hoop, a ball and an inflatable rubber horse.

It appeared the new books had tried to correct some of those problems. But the typography and some of the stories were difficult to follow. It seemed the only similarity with the old books were the names Janet and John. Beginning in 1949, Nisbet released a version specially published for New Zealand, with the same authors and illustrators. There were seven books in all: Out and About (1949), I Know a Story (1949), I Went Walking (1949), Here We Go (1949), Off to Play (1949), Through the Garden Gate (1951), and Once upon a Time (1951). [10] The only distinctive New Zealand feature was a Māori legend included in the final title, Once Upon a Time. [11] Eighty thousand copies of each book were distributed free to New Zealand schools from 1950. A further 20–30,000 of each were printed in 1956, and another 12–20,000 in 1959. [11] Heyday - 1950s and 1960s [ edit ]

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Like Janet and John, the Progressive readers centred on a family — Pat, May, Mother, Father and Baby — but before long they leapt off into a confusing mishmash of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Altogether, 47 new words were introduced in the First Primer, including 'jig', 'jog', 'pig' and 'hog', 'roast beef (this was a pre-vegetarian age), 'Elfland', 'cupboard', and — ominously, perhaps — 'market'. He cites the strong sense of professional isolation felt by New Zealand educators then; this had been exacerbated by the Depression, when even books about education became scarce. But he also stresses the 'abiding sense of guilt towards the young, who had suffered in both war and times of want. . . here were experts offering us ways of making reparation to the next generation'. 4 It's nostalgia publishing. People remember it from the past with happy memories. They are probably going to be in their 40s, 50s, 60s. To see it again to relive those times. They were probably happier times. Author/Creator: mabel o'donnell, Year: 1949 - 1951". National Library of New Zealand . Retrieved 22 August 2019. Beeby's Syllabus Revision Committee on Reading in the Primary School listed the ideal characteristics of a reading series. The stories should have a sequence of thoughts, and be based on a controlled vocabulary. The books should be suitably graded, attractive, and interesting, with a helpful layout. 7

The Janet and John radio stories were heavily laden with innuendo. These were read out on air by Terry Wogan, who performed as John Marsh with a distinctive lisp. The first few stories proved a huge success with both of Radio 2's listeners 2 and Kevin Joslin was encouraged by Pauly to write more. This paved the way for a long-running highlight of Terry's show. Not to be outdone, they had Hazeley and Morris create a series of spoof Ladybird books just for Penguin. Depressing comedyYet The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is not John Marsh's only contribution to radio comedy. In fact, since the 1990s his marital relationship with his wife Janet has inspired a series of radio sketches all of their own, the infamous Janet and John stories, read by Terry Wogan. Who is John Marsh? He agrees that it is the power of the idealised remembrance of the 50s that drives adults to buy these books for each other. Because my Dad was in the services, we moved around a lot and the few books that my brother and I owned ended up being given away. I have since spent my adulthood hunting around second-hand bookshops and more lately the internet replacing these long lost friends - embraced with tears and great emotion. director-general from 1940, the Department of Education embarked on an ambitious programme of syllabus reform, culminating in 1948 with the big one — reading. Janet and John arrived as part of this reform.

Originally published in the UK by James Nisbet and Co in 1949 the Janet and John reading scheme was one of the first to use the “look and say” approach. Using limited vocabulary, the books were based around the daily lives of a brother and sister with words frequently repeated, the idea was that children would memorise them and therefore read.The books were used in New Zealand schools in the 1950s but were replaced in 1963 with the Government-sponsored "Ready to Read" series.

And she’s right. Her satire – a combination of original painting and mixed media – perfectly encapsulates the conceptual vacancy that is, unfortunately, at the heart of many of our arts institutions. She explains:

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jeers of 'brainbox!' and 'four-eyes!' accompanied with surreptitious thumps. (Any boy caught hitting a girl would have got the strap.) Male teachers did not seem overjoyed at my constantly raised hand either. At my all-girl secondary school, it was a huge relief not to have to feel ambivalent about knowing the answers. I have never been ashamed of reading books which I have kept from my childhood. I've even made a point of going out to buy some which got lost along the way. Five years ago, I made a special trip to the fabulous Hay-on-Wye to buy the Famous Five series because it had to be the versions I had read when I was nine, not the latest reprints where they all wear jeans instead of shorts. Last Christmas, I bought my 38-yr-old fiance a copy of the Roy of the Rovers annual he'd had when he was a kid and to say he was over the moon would be a total understatement. There really is nothing to beat a good bit of nostalgia, especially when it comes in the shape of books. Long may it continue.