The First Blue Peter Book was published in 1964 by Lutterworth Press, it cost nine shillings and six pence and on the front cover it boasted to be "The book which five million young viewers have been waiting for!"
The book was actually the idea of Michael Foxall of Lutterworth Press who approached the BBC with the idea, suggesting there was a lucrative gap in the market. The BBC licensed the book and following it's success they dispensed with the services of Lutterworth the following year and published the second Blue Peter book themselves.
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"These 'animated' cartoons would take all week between programmes to produce along with the story line. The drawings were done in vision (live) and the narrative read by Mary Malcolm or Sylvia Peters. (in the early days my uncle used to tell the stories in his charming Austrian accent but had been plagued by complaints that the marker pen he used to draw the characters would squeal and screech and drive viewers mad so the sound had to be eliminated while my uncle was actually drawing on screen)".
"Apart from drawing 'Bengo' followed by 'Bleep and Booster' in the late '50's early '60's my uncle had strip cartoons syndicated all over the world. In this country there was the character called 'Humphrey' who appeared in the magazine 'Woman'. 'Wuff, Tuff & Snuff', 'Sniff', 'The Boss' and 'Caesar' in the Sunday Graphic".
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As well as Bengo, the first Blue Peter book features other art work by Tim including an adventure about the loveable Bleep and Booster. There are other children's stories such as Little Watch by Oliver Postgate and The Magic Egg by Edward and Anna Stanton.
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Val makes a desert island |
Biddy Baxter later wrote about the first Blue Peter book:
"It was fun writing the book, not at all difficult because we were so used to writing scripts and the book was written in the same style. The worst problem was what to leave out".
The hardback book contained 24 articles in 78 pages and cost just less than the modern equivalent of 50 decimal pence.
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Space age pals: Bleep and Booster |
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