Your favourite childhood books now look different
When we stumble upon our childhood books, whether in boxes in the attic or your children’s bookshelves, it’s like meeting an old friend. You suddenly recall all the times you eagerly thumbed through the pages re-reading the stories for the umpteenth times. We loved and cherished the books – so attached are we to our editions that it can sometimes be difficult to associate our beloved memories of the stories with updated versions of the book covers. Although the contents of the books are the same of course, the covers don’t quite hold the same memories and somehow it just makes them different. So let’s take a look at how the covers of our favourite childhood books have changed over the years…
The Twins at St Clare’s by Enid Blyton
First published in 1941, The Twins at St Clare’s is the first of six novels in the St Clare’s series, which follows the lives of twin sisters Patricia and Isobel.
This is the book cover you probably remember:
Or maybe this earlier version:
Or even this 1988 edition:
But – brace yourselves – this is how it looks like now:
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
Who didn’t love reading about the adventures of 11-year-old orphan, Anne Shirley? You may remember the redhead from this cover:
Or this one:
But we bet you don’t remember this. Luckily, this ill-conceived cover (Anne is most definitely not blonde!) was pulled from shelves after public backlash.
The Hardy Boys by Franklin W Dixon
The tales of Frank and Joe have been entertaining us for decades but how have they evolved since the 1920s?
This is how the covers looked then:
And now:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
It was a wild and wacky adventure following Charlie into the Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory.
This was the cover for the very first edition of the book:
Here are some other covers you may recognise:
Or perhaps the covers by renowned children’s illustrator Quentin Blake:
But this was the (slightly terrifying) cover released last year:
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
First published in 1970, this was the first cover of Judy Blume’s seminal work:
This is how it’s changed:
And this is how it’s been updated: