This was fun before the internet. What Ladybird taught us and why we miss it

In this issue…Jumpers for goalposts. Weeks of endless summer. Backdoors never locked. Glory days – wasn’t it? Isn’t it? For many of us Ladybird Books were an essential part of childhood. But what reality were they telling and how much do we REALLY remember? As Ladybird celebrates its centenary, Steven MacKenzie investigates the history of a British icon and the nation’s collective memory.

Our Letter to My Younger Self is with Ross Kemp. He starts with the words “At 16 I was obsessed with my hair…” and things take flight from there. There are moments of Accidental Partridge as he remembers school bullies, and some touching moments about what he has come to really value.

As analysis continues after the Paris massacre, John Bird assesses offence, the right to offend and where we all look now. He comes to interesting conclusions that may surprise.

Polly Devlin returns with a great piece celebrating great women. There is a story you’ll want to repeat about Peggy Guggenheim and an affair with Samuel Beckett.

Our featured vendor this week is Christian Radu, who sells outside Boots on Market Street in Eastleigh. He came from Spain seeking work – trying first in London, then around England. He’s now working selling the Issue and finally able to plan for the future.

There is much else besides – including Adrian Lobb looking at how the Tony Soprano-effect changed TV and had a big bearing on the much anticipated Wolf Hall; we speak to the fantastically named Ellar Coltrane, the star at the heart of Boyhood; we have details of a new project helping unemployed kids get off the dole by showing them how to break into film-making; there is analysis of the reality of falling food prices from our business editor Dominic Laurie; we have the original patent application for the game of Monopoly and we carry a fascinating piece on the largely forgotten author who created Mortdecai, the hero of Johnny Depp’s new movie. Our Pause column will help you get into jazz drumming (that’s right). And, of course, there is always Spot The Ball…