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WE RECENTLY HAPPENED upon a tweet that stopped us in our tracks and chilled us to our core:
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The books we read as children were like old friends; stories we would return to over and over again.
Whatever edition of The Famous Five or The Hardy Boys or Lord of the Rings graced your shelves as a child, it can be difficult to take to those beloved books in their updated form.
Let’s take a look at how that art and those covers have changed over the years…
The Twins at St Clare’s – Enid Blyton
First published in 1941, The Twins at St Clare’s is number one in a series of six books about Patricia and Isobel.
Monday 23 December, 2024
Monday 23 December, 2024
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8 of your favourite childhood books and what they look like now
WE RECENTLY HAPPENED upon a tweet that stopped us in our tracks and chilled us to our core:
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
The books we read as children were like old friends; stories we would return to over and over again.
Whatever edition of The Famous Five or The Hardy Boys or Lord of the Rings graced your shelves as a child, it can be difficult to take to those beloved books in their updated form.
Let’s take a look at how that art and those covers have changed over the years…
The Twins at St Clare’s – Enid Blyton
First published in 1941, The Twins at St Clare’s is number one in a series of six books about Patricia and Isobel.
This is probably how you remember them:
Or maybe this earlier version:
Or this 1988 version:
Brace yourself. This is them now:
Malory Towers – Enid Blyton
Fellow boarding school brats Darrell, Sally, Alicia and co have undergone some major changes too.
Earlier incarnations of the series looked like this:
and this:
and this:
These days, the Malory Towers gang look like this:
The Hardy Boys – Franklin W Dixon
The tales of Frank and Joe Hardy have been entertaining us since the late twenties. Let’s see how they’ve evolved.
Then:
Now:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Earlier this year a controversial new cover for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was revealed, and branded by some as “terrifying”.
Here’s how most people know it, featuring the work of Quentin Blake:
This was the cover of the very first edition of the book:
Here are some more non-Quentin Blake covers you might recognise:
Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret
Judy Blume’s seminal work was first published in 1970, with this cover:
Here’s how it’s changed:
The Lord of the Rings – J R R Tolkien
The covers for Tolkiens’ classic trilogy has evolved from his own original designs…
… through all sorts of offerings. Is the one you had here?
The Famous Five
Blyton’s tales of Julian, Dick and Anne, George and Timmy the Dog have been hugely popular since they were first published in the early 1940s.
Here’s how they’ve changed over the years…
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4
The first book in Sue Townsend’s hilarious Adrian Mole series was published in 1982 and it looked like this:
Since then it has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Here’s how the cover has changed:
33 ways Adrian Mole looked at life>
A definitive ranking of the children’s books you read in school>
Penguin faces backlash over new cover for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory>
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adrian mole are you there god are you there god it's me margaret charlie and the chocolate factory Enid Blyton famous five judy blume malory towers St Clare's the hardy boys