Ladybirds Books

There are so many of these books - this site is lovely and gives you some history as well as being able to send Ladybird e-cards etc. -   VintageLadybird 

SOMETHING TO DO - A Puffin Original

I love this book. I don't think that is too strong a word - and it is an attachment made in my childhood.
This book was like a magic treasure trove to me when I was small. The projects it contains seemed so full of promise and so achievable (even though looking back I'm sure my attempts at making dolls furniture out of cotton reels or tracking animals for example were largely very imaginative rather than well executed).
This book, though, appealed then and still appeals now - you open it (I had lost my copy and recently bought a second-hand copy on Amazon for 1p + postage - it was like seeing a long lost friend when it turned up in the post) and immediately get drawn in to all the possibilities that are on offer (themed Month by Month to make it easier to know what activity is most suitable).

Some of my favourites were Campfire (July ) - I tried this with my friend though and used paraffin I found in the shed and my father was incandescent with rage as we could have had a terrible accident and it also burned a big patch of the grass. Though we had tried to hide the fire behind the shed but somehow he still found it...)
Also Growing Broad Beans in a jan jar (May) and Making a doll's bed (April).
The whole book, however, is teeming with amazing ideas. A total treasure.

The Colossal Book of Costumes by Joëlle Jolivet

This book is, by my standards anyway, HUGE! Ginormous! Well quite tall.
Here it is next to an adult's leg :

It is also quite stunning to look at. The illustrations are breathtakingly bright and they transport me back to my childhood and that world of colour and bold pictures and thick black lines round the edges of the colour-in pictures you used to colour in.

Some of the pages are 'lift-the-flap' which makes the book interactive too! How cool is that - 

The authoress/illustrator has a website here