Facebook rant: There is more to life than “Like”!

While I sincerely appreciate the hundreds of times you have clicked “Like” on my Facebook posts, it would give me a really warm and fuzzy feeling if – once in a while – you make your humanly presence felt by saying something (and in any language you choose, other than “click”). That way, at least I know that you are still sound of mind, and have not devolved into an amoeba.

There... my Facebook “spit-the-dummy” for the morning. I think I’m done. Good day to all of you. Oh, shucks... is it Valentine’s Day already?

A tribute to the classic Ladybird storybooks

I grew up reading well-loved Ladybird books such as King Arthur, Robin Hood, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp. My son is growing up with Hi-5, an iPad and YouTube.

I would like him to enjoy the stories that I read when I was growing up like him. I would like him to know what the significance of the words “Open Sesame!” and “rubbing the lamp” are. I would like him to know how Sir Lancelot of the Lake defeated Sir Turquine of the Fort in a duel, and what the “Twelve Labours of Hercules” are. I would like him to know that there was a wealth of children’s books and fairy tales – long before the Internet and a purple dinosaur called Barney came onto the scene.

I would also like Ladybird UK to give me one good reason why they do not continue to print these well-loved and timeless (read: no revisions required, just re-print them as they were – and in Kindle format, if that is the way to go in the 21^st century) classics – despite them still thriving healthily in the children’s book publishing business after all these years. As a parent of Generation X who grew up on and loved these storybooks, I believe I speak for many of my contemporaries when I appeal for the resurrection and return of these literary treasures for the sake of our children and grandchildren – many of whom will grow up not knowing an iota of these wonderful tales.

The collage below is a small tribute to just some of the classic Ladybird storybooks that helped to shape my childhood, my grasp of the English language at a very early age, and my rich imagination. And for that, I have my parents to thank for instilling the Ladybird reading habit in me.