I-SPY BOOKS
Fun, compact and full of knowledge: the handbooks for little walkers are looking good at 70…
When teacher Charles Warrell started selling his tiny spotters’ guides in his local Woolworths in 1948, he probably didn’t think they’d still be going strong 70 years later. But – thank heavens – they are.
Times, buildings, cars and even native species may have changed in that time, but the i-SPY guides have kept pace, opening the eyes of successive generations of young explorers to the minutiae of the world around them.
And the basic idea is the same: whatever the topic may be (wildflowers, birds, butterflies, dog breeds, trees, the night sky – to name but a few), each entry gets a little write-up packed with useful info and a points rating based on its rarity. Tick off what you see, and when your guide is complete, you can send off for a certificate and badge.
CW is proudly still using them – both the tree and wildflower guides came in magnificently handy on a recent trip to Swaledale. So to celebrate their 70th birthday, we asked for your i-SPY nostalgia…
It’s a very clever thing to explain things simply but accurately, and with enthusiasm, without talking down to whoever is reading it. I’m so glad they are still going! Nigel Cresham
I still use them! Last year it was birds, this year wildflowers. Margo Lyons
Back in the 1950s, my brother and I had the whole set and when we went on long journeys we would have them all stacked in order on the parcel shelf in the car. I had some amazing times with them. I remember taking the Musical Instruments one to the large music shop in Aldershot and being shown all around the back room – it gave me all sorts of amazing things to fill my book up! Sarah Cohen
They taught me so much when I was a child. I liked the Observer guides too. I’d love to learn again as I’ve totally forgotten all my knowledge of birds, flowers, fungi etc. I need a new set! Mary Pirie
I can remember having these in the Sixties. Completed them and sent them off for large coloured feathers, as used in an Indian headdress. Susan Bowey
I’m now 58 and had them when I was a boy. Now I have new ones and fill them in with my grandchildren. Richard Hoffman