as an aid to literacy, generations of pre teen youngsters followed the everyday adventures of peter and jane, the carefree stars of the ladybird book series thirty six of the books were issued as part of the publisher’s key words reading scheme between 1964 and 1967 and remained in print, selling 80 million copies worldwide, with the illustrations undergoing an occasional redesign today, the peter and jane books are a valuable piece of british social history, and a side by side comparison compiled by a grown up fan of the books has underlined just how much life changed during the years they continued to engage young minds in countless homes and schools throughout britain where once the brother and sister — like their equally popular middle class contemporaries janet and john — could be seen doing all the things a boy and girl might be expected to do in the sixties, health ’n’ safety, sexual and racial discrimination and political correctness intervened to shepherd them into a very different world helen day, who started a ladybirdflyawayhomecom website dedicated to old ladybird books, posted ‘then and now’ photos on twitter @lbflyawayhome and invited followers to guess the respective dates but the pictures instantly became a fascinating chronicle of the subtle lifestyle changes that peter and jane underwent in the years following their first appearance ‘i was brought up reading the 1964 books and i loved them because they were very idyllic,’ said helen day, a 50 year old teacher from hertfordshire ‘i was less keen on the later books because they were too much like real life’ peaceful waters: in the sixties drawing, peter paddles a rubber dinghy without a care while pat, the family's irish setter, splashes happily along beside him by the seventies, mop haired peter must wear a brightly coloured life jacket  all change: peter, jane and their friend keeps a tight rein on the docile pat as smartly dressed daddy gallantly helps his equally immaculate wife off the train, holding her handbag as he does so in the seventies, mum forges ahead while dad, still lumbered with the bag, follows meekly behind  playing a straight bat: sixties peter stands poised at the crease while jane, as befitting a soppy girl, bowls timidly underarm by the seventies, it's jane who's wielding the willow, thwacking a ball clear to the boundary over her brother's flailing fingers  child's play: jane, demure in a dress and sensible shoes, looks at the dolls in a sixties toy shop a decade later, the tomboyish, jean wearing jane'e attention is caught by a go kart while the selection of toys for sale includes basil brush and a dalek, reflecting the all pervading influence of children's television  sunset over suburbia: the sixties view from peter and jane's bedroom window was of unspoilt greenery by the seventies, a housing estate of semi detached 'des res' properties had sprung up, while beyond them a tower block loom ominously  that's the ticket: the sixties children make friends on a train ride to the country by the culturally diverse seventies, it's a young black friend who is sharing his apples with them the trilby wearing gent in green seems to have strayed in from the fifties though perhaps he thought he was catching the titfield thunderbolt  everything in the garden's lovely: peter helps daddy tend to the dahlias while jane and mummy read quietly by the seventies, dad's lazing in the chair with mum hard at work in the borders he only gets up to stop peter and jane squabbling about a book there's probably a transistor radio blaring somewhere too  running free near the water (left) but an adult is later added to indicate the children were supervised (right) seatbelts have been added in the picture, right, but safety wasn't such a big issue in the earlier version  left, peter and jane chat to the train driver in the story where daddy helped mummy disembark from the train but in a later version the duo are stopped from running onto the platform (right) the children were helped onto the bus in early editions by a bus conductor but catch it themselves a few years later in a new bus with no one to help them on it  a shopkeeper weighs the sweets for the children (left) but he was later removed and the children helped themselves as the number of supermarkets increased  jane helpfully holds the tent for peter (left) but they both get stuck in later (right) jane is wearing a dress and pushing a pram (left) but is seen wearing jeans and rollerskating by the 1970s  you have to look carefully, but the dog is now on a lead in the later version on the right  in the 1960s daddy watches mummy wrap the present, by the 1970s he was joining in  subtle changes: in the 1960s (left) the children ran into the road to get an ice cream but a pavement was later added to reflect improved safety expectations 
peter jane super helen day
peter and jane books were a childhood staple for children in 60s and 70s . subtle changes were made to reflect lifestyle shifts one decade later . earlier editions feature jane in pretty dress, later versions in modern jeans . new health and safety rules saw peter boating in a life jacket in 70s version . daddy is also depicted helping around the house in updated stories . super fan helen day posts before and after pictures on her twitter account . she has been collecting the books for 15 years and has over 10,000 copies 