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A few days ago I welcomed Alice and Jerry to my house!
New pupils ?
Oh no!
Characters in a book?
Yes...
all the way from the good old USA!
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Having searched for one of these books for ages, I've finally got my hands on one.
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Take a look and you will see something very similar in these book covers.
***
The Alice and Jerry books were actually a very successful American reading scheme for children, which James Mackenzie Wood, a director of British publisher James Nisbet, encountered in 1946.
His wife, Rona Munro, a teacher, produced her own version, which were published in 1949.
Enter..
JANET AND JOHN
***
Janet and John books became hugely popular and influential in the teaching of schoolchildren throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
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Janet and John were portrayed as average English children, living a typical middle-class life, and the books consisted of stories that progressively incorporated key words needed in the development of reading skills.
And...
The stories were illustrated by Florence and Margaret Hoopes...the very same illustrators as for the Alice and Jerry books!
However...
By the 1970s, Janet and John’s straightforward and simple world was seen as being hopelessly outdated and the books fell out of favour...
BUT...
Have remained as icons with those who grew up with them.
So...for my giveaway...just comment saying which reading scheme/books helped you learn to read.
;-)
"Janet and John" for me.... but, wait for it.... The characters in my children's books were Ramu, Sita and Gopal!
ReplyDeleteWas a mix of Janet & John and the Village with 3 Corners (Billy Blue Hat, Roger Red Hat & someone else who's name I've forgotten) for me.
ReplyDeleteVillage with three corners here, Jennifer Yellow Hat!
ReplyDeleteMaxi is currently learning with ORT Biff, Kipper et all
Another one with the Village with 3 Corners. Johnny and Jennifer Yellow Hat, Roger Red Hat and Billy Blue Hat and maybe someone Brown Hat! I loved it and it's brought back fond memories as I loved school and learning to read.
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember having words in a tobacco tin? Is that even allowed now?! xx
I can't remember which scheme I used to learn to read, but I do have fond memories of Janet and John and the other is of Andy Pandy!
ReplyDeleteI learned to read prior to Janet & John ... I think my reading was via the books of Ronald Ridout. I expect few can remember those!
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
I learnt to read with Janet and John. In fact I've just been smling at your photos. I remember some of the books!
ReplyDeleteJille x
I remember Janet and John and also Ronald Ridout. Children these days have much more fun learning to read with real books, of which there are hundreds of fantastic, well loved picture books with wonderful illustrations and amusing texts, which capture pupils imagination and give them a thirst for more!!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the 70s but remember Janet and John. I also remember ladybird books and Topsy and Tim, or Yopsy and Turvy as I used to call them :)
ReplyDeletetwiggy x
It was Janet & John for me too! And that was in South Africa, so those children travelled the world!
ReplyDeleteJayne
Does anyone else remember Little Red Hen? Or am I unique - that is what the word verification is telling me!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was Village with Three Corners and Janet and John for me. I was an avid reader of books, so I should also really say Enid Blyton!! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't remember (oh dear am I that old!!) ..... but I do remember being bitterly disappointed that I couldn't read after my first day at school, as I wanted to be able to read my Jack and Jill comic!!
ReplyDeleteIt was Janet & John at my school, and we had a giant copy in our classroom. I actually personally owned and a copy of the "Out & About" you have pictured.
ReplyDeleteIt was Janet & John at my school, and we had a giant copy in our classroom. I actually personally owned and a copy of the "Out & About" you have pictured.
ReplyDeleteJanet and John were the books my infant school used to teach us to read. I thought I remembered them being called 'Janet and John book 1' etc. They certainly are remembered very well amongst friends my age. xx
ReplyDeleteI read the Ladybird books, Peter and Jane; I don't remember Janet and John, and I started school in 1970 in a rural English primary, with three classes for children between 5 and 11 years old.
ReplyDeleteI vividly remember thAT when I was in the top set in the infants and the school had just got new hymn books, there was enough for every child in the top two classes and three leftover, so we had a reading test in the infants to determine the three best readers who each got a hymn book. I remember standing in line at the teacher's desk and waiting to read from my book; a story about rabbits; I can still remember the picture! I was really pleased to win one of the books (although, of course, I had to leave it behind when I left).
Before I was reading for myself, I remember vividly that my brother 10 years older than me would read TV Comic to me; Tom and Jerry and Basil Brush stand out most.
Janet & John was the reading book at our school. We had a giant copy in our classroom too. I actually owned a copy of "Out & About" as pictured above
ReplyDeleteaaahhh the village with 3 corners....that brought back some memories :) Roger Red hat was my favourite. I also remember Janet & John :) x
ReplyDeleteCrumbs that's asking a lot, an awful lot of water has gone under the bridge since I started school in 1952!! All I can say is that I did learn and loved every minute of it and love of reading is still way high on my list so however they taught us can't have been that bad.
ReplyDeleteJenny x
I was a Janet & John pupil too.xx
ReplyDeleteI think it was Peter and Jane? I work in a primary school now and its a girl called Kipper!
ReplyDeleteLove
Lyn
xxx
Definately Janet and John but I also remember Peter and Jane, not sure if they were Ladybird books or not. I just remember a boy and a girl with black hair...
ReplyDeletex
i read janet and john at school but my real passion was for enid blyton - i loved everything she wrote!! (and thoroughly enjoyed the film of her life recently!!)
ReplyDeletegill
I remember Janet and John but also Peter and Jane , they were still going strong in my classroom in the 1970s !
ReplyDeleteAnn x
Janet and John, Dick and Dora - and I loved them all!!! Thanks for bringing back so many lovely memories Sal! Have a great Easter
ReplyDeleteKimx
Hello, and Happy Easter !
ReplyDeleteIn France, we had "Daniel & Valérie" at scholl to learn reading. It was quite the same vintage drawings.
But when I was young my favourite writer was ... Enid Blyton et "Le club des Cinq" (the "Famous Five", in English)
I liked reading the" Martine" too , I don't know if it is wellknown in Great Britain ?..
Bons souvenirs
I was a Peter and Jane! I picked up reading very quickly, and whizzed through from the big print of 1a to the small print of 12c! Great childhood memories Sal. Happy Easter weekend to you. x
ReplyDeleteHere in the US, Alice and Jerry were the books I used in school in the 1940's. How I loved the books and their wonderful illustrations and stories. Even though I am 69 now, I have a large collection of the books and still enjoy looking at them. So many wonderful memories of that time and world that was so gently shown in those illustrations......Dianne
ReplyDeleteAs a child of the 80s I learned to read with Floppy, Kipper, Biff and Chip! I thought Biff was an awesome name and raved about Floppy the dog's antics, though I always thought Kipper would have been a name better suited to a dog than a little boy! I think this was the Magic Key series.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter Sal & T... hope you are enjoying this rare blast of sunshine!
ReplyDeleteWell Janet & John must have been part of my early education but the books I loved and as you know, like to collect when I find them... are the Gay Way series.. starting with the Red books, through to blue, green, yellow, orange and purple. I loved them all and they started me on the road to my passion for reading.. a lot to be grateful for.
Michele x
OMG what memories the books bring back. Janet & John, Peter and Jane, Roger Red Hat, Beacon Readers, Gay Way (Yes really!!) readers and more. Love them all. I was taught ?? years ago using the Old Lob scheme and recently found a copy! What delight. I'll keep it forever:)
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter
Love Lesley
Oddly enough it was still Janet and John for me too! But at home I adored Ladybird books!
ReplyDeleteHappy easter Sal, glad you scored your lovely book,
Sarah x
I love the look of all those books, esp the top one..so pretty.
ReplyDeleteI read the Jane and Peter books as a child...i collect them and read them with my eldest boy.
I started school in 1973 and here in Australia we learnt to read with "Dick and Jane" and of course their pets Nip and Fluff!! While I was quite small the Government at the time saw fit to remove all Enid Blyton books from our libraries - thank goodness I had a wonderful supply of those at home!!
ReplyDeleteFor me it was Peter and Jane!!!. Now working my way through Jolly Phonics with my 4 year old. We are currently getting very cute letters spelt using her phonics.
ReplyDeletelove the books :o)
ReplyDeletemy nan taught be to read by running her finger along the words as she read the weekend paper. the big incentive for me to read alone came with the milly-molly-mandy books.
It was Janet & John for me at school. But at home with my mum we read Brer Rabbit which I still have somewhere(!), and grandma always bought me a Teddy Tar book. I must have about a dozen of those still-tucked away with Brer Rabbit, no doubt! Don't know if I would dare show them in the light of day now. How very un-PC! But the colourful(!)drawings were what attracted me so much and stories were fun too. Oh, happy, simple days!! Z x
ReplyDeleteI learnt with Peter and Jane and my little sister learnt with Betsy and Colin
ReplyDeleteApril xx
I learned with these books in Elementary. I loved them! I remember of Janet and Jim (I think it was like that) and now I would like to get a copy of some to teach my students, with them. Does anyone know where I can get any?
ReplyDeleteOH MY HAT!!! How utterly nostalgic the images of my first reader makes me. JANET AND JOHN!!! Seeing the pages and reading the lines I remember so fondly. I enjoyed reading and was actually very good at it too. I have such fond memories of racing through each book in order to get to the next one. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me seeing all this again...about 45 years later.
ReplyDeleteNOSTALGIA - South Africa
From which book is the scene with Mother on the bench? "It was a puppy. Mother held him on her lap." Thank you---- an American reader
ReplyDeleteI think it might be from the Janet and John book, ‘ Out and About’ . The books are high up on my shelves right now so I’ll have to wait until someone can reach them down for me! 😁
ReplyDeleteThank you! Good enough, and I will take that as a very informed guesstimate!
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