Harry Wingfield

His watercolours, along with those of Martin Aitchison, provided strong images to accompany the simple text devised by William Murray.

They featured images initially based on photography of families on new council estates of the period, a market they targeted with phenomenal success.

Wingfield remained a freelance for most of his life and in 1989, Ladybird returned a catalogue of around 600 original pictures to him, some of which were sold at exhibition, but many of which he retained.

Exhibitions of Wingfield's pictures were held in Walsall in 2002 and 2003 and across the UK, organised by Ladybird enthusiasts including the writer Cressida Connolly.

In late 2014, Ladybird books received major UK media coverage with the release of an iconic 'covers' collection to celebrate their 100th anniversary.