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The First Day of the Holidays
Ladybird Series 401

Author
A J Macgregor
Illustrator
A J Macgregor
Publisher
Wills & Hepworth
First Published
1940
ISBN
N/A
     Availability to buy >

The first edition cover, 1940 ImageID:1509

Synopsis

Pen and Gwen, two young penguins, get up late on the first day of the holidays and are late for breakfast, they want to go fishing and have a picnic but their mother gives them two empty baskets and says they have to fill them with peas first for them all to eat.They sulk as they are doing it and think it is worse than going to school. When their mother suggests shelling them pen goes off and finds a bike and gives gwen a ride. They soon bump into the owner of the bicycle - they are in so much trouble - and are scolded by their mother and made to shell more peas.

Opening text

Original (first) verse by E. M. CoghlinOne Summer morning, very late,The clock had struck just half past eight,Two little penguin sleepyheads,Still slumbered in their cosy beds.Revised (first) verse by W Perring

Characters and Keywords

Penguins - Pen - Gwen - the first day of the holidays - shelling peas - motor-cycle - motorbike

First edition issue points for collectors

This is the second title in Wills & Hepworth's Ladybird series, 401.Originally published as a small hardback book with dust-wrapper carrying the original price of 2'6 Net. 56 pages. Picture pasted to the front board. Black and white illustrated endpapers. Verses are by by E. M. Coghlin - later edition were revised by W Perring.A word on early reprintsThe first few reprints of this title, certainly up to the 11th edition, 1953, carried the original illustration on the front board and dust-wrapper (Penguins Pen & Gwen shelling peas) - the artwork changed on later edition covers (certainly later than 1947) which shows Pen & Gwen riding a bike instead of shelling peas.Reprint historySecond Edition, 1941Fourth Edition, 1943Sixth Edition, 1947 - dw on this edition still shows Pen & Gwen shelling peas.Ninth Edition, 1950Tenth Edition, 1951

Images for this title

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Random fact

Pre-1940 Wills & Hepworth books were large and thick, on puffed-up, cheap paper, mainly printed in 2 colours & line - these were originally sold to market hucksters by Mr Hepworth, the original founder of W&H.


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