| Ladybird
author Patrick Armstrong talks to The Wee Web |
Patrick Armstrong is the author of
six books for the Ladybird 'Leaders' series
(737).
The six books are Deserts,
Forests, Mountains,
Polar Regions and Islands
from the Leader Series as well as Nature's
Roundabout from the Conservation
Series.
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| Polar Regions
- one of the six books Patrick Armstrong
wrote for Ladybird Books |
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Patrick,
whose latest book 'Darwin's Other
Islands' is being released in October
2004 (Continuum Publishing, London and New
York), now lives in Australia in what he describes
as an "English-style house in a tree-lined
street close to the university at which he
taught for 30 years".
Patrick was kind enough to answer a few questions
for us regarding his time as a Ladybird author. |
The Wee Web
Can you tell us a little on how you came to write
books for Ladybird?
Patrick
With a young family, living in a Cambridgeshire
village (two boys) in the late 1960s and early 1970s
we got to know the Ladybird series well; we owned
many dozens, factual books and "well-loved
tales", reading books - all sorts. In due course
we discovered the "Leaders" series. I
immediately thought "I can do as well as these
guys" and offered to write a few. The rationale
was that they contained interesting factual material,
a bit more intellectually stimulating than "Jane
and Peter" for older children with reading
difficulties, for whom younger children's material
would be unsuitable - or so it was explained to
me. Also, at that time the Persian Gulf oil industry
was expanding rapidly and there was a great demand
materials for teaching basic English to adults whose
first language was Arabic or some other Asian language;
the "leaders" series answered admirably.
I wrote: "Deserts", "Forests",
"Mountains", "Polar Regions"
and "Islands" in the mid-1970s. My approach
was to provide sound scientific and geographical
facts presented as simply as possible. I indicated
the general nature of the illustrations I wanted,
but Ladybird commissioned them - I think the link
was very successful.
There is another aspect I could mention. After we
moved permanently to Australia in 1975, we were
pretty hard-up; we had just bought a house - scraping
the last cent for the deposit - close to the University
where I was teaching; in late 1975 my parents visited
us; they were both elderly and in indifferent health,
and as we saw them off at the airport we found ourselves
promising to visit them at Christmas 1976. We thus
needed four air-fares (well, two and two halves)
pretty badly and pretty quickly. The payments I
got for my texts from Ladybird were very useful!
On that visit (December 1976) I drove over to Loughborough
to approve the illustrations of two or three of
the books. I recall I got a small grant for the
trip from the Australian Export Promotion Organisation
(it had a name something like that - it has long
since been disbanded) for helping to promote Australia's
exports! I was pretty pleased about that!
The Wee Web
Had you written any books before writing for Ladybird?
Patrick
Yes. I wrote a couple of books for Shire Publications:
"Discovering Ecology" and "Discovering
Geology". Also a book on East Anglia called
"The Changing Landscape" (Terence Dalton
Ltd, Lavenham, Suffolk, 1975). All now out of print.
The Wee Web
Were there certain guidelines laid down concerning
the structuring of the Ladybird books you wrote,
and if so what were they? (this could be a restriction
to the word count, certain words not allowed to
be used etc)
Patrick
I think I have partly answered this above: solid,
accurate factual material set out as simply as possible.
The Wee Web
Did you have any control over the illustrations
that accompanied your writing?
Patrick
I made suggestions about what I wanted, and included
rough sketches or photocopies in a few cases. I
checked the visual material of at least some of
the books.
The Wee Web
The written content in the books you wrote - did
Ladybird edit any of these before going to press?
Patrick
Not much.
The Wee Web
You wrote six books for Ladybird - Deserts, Forests,
Mountains, Polar Regions and Islands from the Leader
Series as well as Nature's Roundabout from the Conservation
Series - which of these books do you like best,
and which do you like the least?
Patrick
My favourite is Polar Regions: I think the illustrations
are particularly good. I was amazed to see a "fine
copy" for sale on the web recently for £145.00!
I later wrote "Nature's Roundabout" in
the Conservation Series: this contains slightly
more advanced concepts. The title was not my suggestion,
and I did not particularly like it. The book's OK,
tho', with some beaut pictures.
The Wee Web
How long did each book take to write?
Patrick
The actual text took a few weeks in each case (sandwiched
in to a busy lecturing, teaching and marking schedule,
research, and family activities), but editing, corresponding
about illustrations, and so on, took much longer
The Wee Web
Did you ever meet any other Ladybird authors or
illustrators?
Patrick
No. At least not knowingly.
The Wee Web
Are you willing to disclose how much you were paid
by Ladybird for each book written - if you are not
willing to tell us this information can you at least
let us know if you were paid a flat sum or were
you paid through the amount of sales per book?
Patrick
We are talking here about contracts that were agreed
25-30 years ago, when the value of money was very
different; a statement of the sums involved would
have little relevance today. But yes, I was paid
a flat fee.
The
Wee Web
Did you find Ladybird an easy publishing house to
work with?
Patrick
Yes, as far as I can recall.
The Wee Web
We understand that you have recently retired from
teaching geogaphy, ecology and environmental management
at an Australian University - is teaching something
you have done throughout your working career?
Patrick
Yes. Before I went to Australia, I taught geography
and geology at what was then the Cambridgeshire
College of Arts and Technology (now Anglia University).
My approach has always been to tell the story of
our beautiful and interesting world "outside
the academy" - to the public at large as well
as within colleges, schools and univerities. Thus
from very soon after qualifying (at Durham University)
I have regularly written about plants, animals,
rocks, ecology, landscapes &c, for newspapers
and magazines, in books for children and young people,
as well as text-books for schools and universities
and scientific papers and scholarly monographs.
The Wee Web
In your Ladybird Leader book entitled Islands you
mention Rathlin, the place where Robert the Bruce
hid in a cave and gained inspiration from a spider
to return to Scotland to face his enimies - have
you ever visited this island or any of the other
places mentioned in this book?
Patrick
Yes; I have been interested in islands throughout
my life. Indeed my writing and research throughout
the last two decades has been on the geography and
ecology of remote islands, and Charles Darwin's
visits to these islands (he visited about 40 islands
during the voyage of the Beagle, 1831-1836) My book
"Darwin's Other Islands" (Continuum Publishing,
London and New York) is to appear in October, 2004.
My theme is that there was a lot more to Darwin's
voyage than the Galapagos, and the "other islands"
he visited were of immense imporrtance to his development.
And yes, I've visited Rathlin; my father was interested
in islands (and wrote about them) and I first visited
Rathlin with him as a 'teenager. I've also visited
Bali, Hawaii, Mauritius, and coral islands in the
Pacific and Indian Ocean - usually to do research,
or collect material for books and articles. I've
visited ther Falklands and the Azores as part of
my Darwin researches. .... and many parts of Australia,
of course!
The Wee Web
Did you ever visit the Ladybird Factory in Loughborough
and if so can you share with us the time you spent
there?
Patrick
Yes, I recall driving over to Loughborough from
Cambridge on a freezing cold day around Christmas,
1976, to check illustrations for some of the books.
(We were visiting Cambridge from Australia - see
above). I can't remember much about it; I do remember
the staff were friendly, and we went out for lunch,
at a nearby pub. I think.
The Wee Web
Are you still writing books today and if so can
you tell us what current projects you are working
on or recent books / articles published?
Patrick
Yes; see my reference to "Darwin's Other Islands"
above. I have other projects in view: more writing
on Darwin, and possibly a text-book or two. I also
jointly edit an annual publication called "Geographers:
Bibibliographical Studies" of a fairly specialist
nature (also Continuum Publishing).
My last major book was "The English Parson-Naturalist:
a Companionship between Science and Religion",
Gracewing, Leomister, 2000. I'm particularly proud
of this book, tho' it's never going to be a big
seller.
The Wee Web
You obviously have a love for the 'natural world'
- is this something you were interested in as a
child?
Patrick
Absolutely; bird-watching, insect studying, pressed
flower collecting, and general natural history were
very much part of my childhood, particularly on
camping holidays in Suffolk.
The Wee Web
What were your favourite books as a child?
Patrick
From the above you will not be surprised to know
that that natural history books such as "Butterfly
Book for the Pocket" and "Insect Book
for the Pocket" (both by E Sandars) were my
constant companions. The battered copies are on
my bookshelf as I write. Fiction? I suppose I had
a rapport with the kids in the Arthur Ransome books;
perhaps I identified most with Dick in "Winter
Holiday", "Coot Club", and "Great
Northern?". And to a lesser extent the stories
by Malcolm Saville. And I have to confess that the
"Just William" stories made me laugh then,
and made me laugh now.
The Wee Web
If you had the opportunity to write for Ladybird
again is this something you would be happy to do?
Patrick
Yes. Absolutely.
The Wee Web
Have you any message for the people who have read
and enjoyed your Ladybird books?
Patrick
We live in a beautiful and interesting world. Look
after it. |
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The Wee Web would like to thank
Patrick Armstrong for giving us
the time in answering our questions. |
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| Random
fact |
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With the outbreak of war in 1939 paper was rationed. Part of W&H’s allocation was used for the production of servicing booklets and charts for suppliers of military vehicles. |
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