Adventures of Wonk 6 titles published
between 1940 and 1980
Series 417 was Wills & Hepworth's
third Ladybird book series. The first title, Going
to Sea, was published in 1941. There were
6 titles published in this series which were originally
published with dust-wrappers.
This popular series followed the adventures of a Koala
Bear called 'Wonk'. Each
book was made up of two short stories and were written
by "Auntie"Muriel Levy,
who retold Cinderella
and Sleeping Beauty
for the previous series, 413.
All six books were wonderfully
illustrated by Kiddell-Monroe
and were a world apart from the later house-style for
which Ladybird are so well known.
The Circus and The
Secret were also published in French and called
Le Cirque andLe Secret - the translations were by
Anne-Marie Menanteau.
There were quite a few reprints of each of the Wonk books
but unlike most other early Ladybird books these were
never produced in the later matt edition (post 1965).
WONK
(colloquial American English) was originally a 1960s slang
word applied to an excessively studious person (equivalent
to "grind" or "nerd"). The origins
of the term are obscure. It has been described as a simple
reversal of "know," linked to an obscure Old
English word, and attributed to Royal Navy slang for a
learned but inexperienced midshipman.
Obtaining 'Wonk' editions
Today it is very difficult to find any of these titles
complete with their original dust wrappers, and if you
are fortunate enough to stumble across any of the Wonk
books, be prepared to spend serious money! Unless you
are extremely lucky expect to pay at least £100
for each edition - if they are true first editions be
prepared to pay quite a bit more. Copies without their
dust wrappers can be picked up for anything between £15.00
and £60.00, depending on condition.
Books
in series 417 All entries below describe the first
edition of each title.
Click on a title for more info.
The first books under the imprint 'The Ladybird series' were 'Tiny Tots Travels' and 'Stories from Hans Andersen' (1914) and 'Little Stories for Little People' and 'ABC Picture Book' (1916).
