They Live in a Cup.

Bryan Ward, illustrator 1966

One might think I should be starting off with my most beloved childhood books. Ones, without which, I would be incomplete. Still, I am not that organized nor is this blog that well-thought-out. Instead, here come the books willy-nilly. A parade of pictures from my past.

Today's featured book is one of a series by Angela Banner. I have a fascination for small or unusually sized books and so it makes sense that I would be drawn to the Ant and Bee series which originated in the UK.

The pictures are rather different. Not cutesy. In fact, I suspect I didn't even really care for them way back when. NOW I absolutely love them.

The characters are sort of quirky and funny and I love that the other main character is simply named Kind Dog. Sadly he's not featured in the book I own.

I don't have my original books, but I found one at a Half Price Bookstore in the Twin Cities a few years ago. My heart stopped when I spotted that little book on the shelf. I'm sure I'd not thought about Ant and Bee in nearly two decades. I LOVE that feeling. The shock of recognition and the smile that spreads across one's face as your memory is tickled. Ant and Bee Time is the one I had as a child. The one I picked up in 2005 is Ant and Bee and the ABC.

I learned the following from the unofficial Ant and Bee website:

There are a total of 13 books in the Ant and Bee series. Each written by Angela Banner and usually illustrated by her too, although sometimes the illustrations are done by someone else (in my case, Bryan Ward). They were first released in the UK during the 1960's and early 70's and published by a couple of different companies. The are small, hard cover picture books for children. They measure approximately 4" by 5" and are about 100 pages each. They teach kids all kinds of things such as counting, colors, and the alphabet. They have been reprinted many times and are available only on a sporadic and inconsistent basis.