In this illustration of the Letterland character Golden Girl, Ms May has drawn a green G to be her head, before gluing long lemon-coloured yarn as hair. Are the Girl’s arms reaching to catch it or comb it? Who knows. She stands, in her hand-crayonned beauty, between two puddles of very carefully applied glitter.
This little book (14.5 x 21 cm) was made during MM’s second year of primary school and I’ve kept it ever since, long after tonnes of dreary worksheets were consigned to recycling. It looks as if it was made with a single letter to each page – possibly singly by page over a term? – and then assembled by the teacher (whose name, sadly, I can’t remember.)
A variety of artistic techniques have been used to make up the Letterland characters. As well as the ebullient use of textile pictured here, Ms May glued felt, papers, sheep’s wool, matchsticks and even fake turf onto the pages to enhance the drawn and painted characters. Munching Mike has a brass pin connecting his cardboard jaws, and Eddy Elephant a neatly concertina’d trunk. The finished book has a resulting pleasing chunkiness with characters’ ears and crowns protruding at the top like so many bookmarks.
Letterland was the preferred aid to reading instruction this particular year at this particular school. I’ve stated in a previous blog, and repeat, that I was never trained in any educational pedagogy and have nothing but respect for teachers. Especially those who unlock the secrets of deciphering the little black squiggles with their small students – and encourage them to reproduce them over and over until they are fluent. I WISH I could remember her name.
Here are Jane Launchbury‘s original illustrations for the characters so you can see the source for the pre-reading Ms May’s inspiration.
A mere ten years after this book was made, I would meet with Kids’ Own Publishing and my fascination with early mark-making as storytelling would lead to a new life as a publishing project manager.
In 2020, the apartment Ms May and I were sharing became a makeshift recording studio and she became Brigid in the Book Cubby. This video shows her genuine delight in reading art and words by small people creating their own books to make meaning of their experiences.
Ms May drew another girl with golden hair in another childhood notebook, also saved by me.
When she was recuperating after dental surgery a couple of years ago, I transferred her design to fabric and subjected it to my own textile interpretation.
The artist tolerated this, as she always does, with grace and kind words.
But I’m still keeping the Letterland Book.
40 Years of Picture Books 