Allen Ahlberg has died

[SchnizelVonKrumm]

Once upon a time, or so they say,
A jolly postman came one day
From over the hills, and far away

Very sad news.

ETA he was Allan, not Allen.

😥

Loved Peepo and Each, peach, pear, plumb when mine were tiny
Tom Thumb in the cupboard, eye spy Mother Hubbard!

The Baby's Catalogue was my favourite.

Oh and the Jolly Postman inspired children to write as well as read! They wrote their own little letters and cards. Wonderful. These books truly inspire children.

Oh we did so much work around the Jolly Postman when I was first teaching. And Please Mrs Butler - I am sure I knew most of them off by heart.

I remember Janet died quite a few years ago so I thought he must have done too, but I've just read that she was only 50. What a shame.

I remember the TV series of this!

Glad to see so much love for The Baby’s Catalogue, it’s such a favourite in our house too, it really captures the lovely everyday moments with children. So many treasured stories.

My kids (esp my eldest) loved the Ahlberg books. My dad bought Peepo along with other books to keep at their house and I remember, no i can see, Dad with ds1 on his knee reading Peepo. Then Dad died suddenly. The first time DS1 brought Peepo over for me to read was heartbreakingly poignant.
The children's books of the 70s and 80s were brilliant.

Peepo.! used to make me cry every time I read it to my kids. My DH excelled himself one Christmas by giving me a signed print of the page with the mum asleep in the easy chair and the dog in the doorway who shouldn't be there. It's one of my most treasured possessions.

Simply lovely books from him and Janet. Classics. Very sad to hear he has died. We read so many of their books with our children and have given a number to our toddler granddaughter

The Ha Ha Bonk Book and the Jolly Postman are two of my very favourites. What a wonderful man.

So sad. So many happy memories from my own childhood and my DC's. Loved Burglar Bill and Happy Families - especially Mrs Wobble the Waitress and Mrs Plum the Plumber! And Funny Bones, and Each Peach Pear Plum ❤️❤️❤️❤️

For 40* years the Ahlbergs’ wonderful books have been a part of our ACs’ and DGCs’ lives and have added to our vocabulary - we still ask when leaving the house if we have protected it from Burglar Bill! Such is the influence of such imaginative minds to which I’ll add Shirley (daughter of T.J. of Liverpool department stores) Hughes. I feel very fortunate to have enjoyed and shared their work.
Funnybones.
Mrs Wobble the Waitress.
Peepo.
Mr Biff the Boxer
I could go on.

Superb!

And ours!

All of them so memorable - having them read to me as a child, persuading parents to buy them as a bookseller and then reading them to DS. I haven't seen it mentioned here, but The Worm Book was one of my favourites. I remember trying to read it to DS and failing because it made me laugh so much 🥹

So many wonderful stories thanks to the Ahlbergs, although I have to admit one of my favourites is a much later one called Previously, which I would recommend to anyone who hasn't yet read it.

I can still recite every word of Peepo and Each Peach Pear Plum and my children are in their early 20s.

‘He sees the landing mirror with its rainbow rim, and a mother with a baby, just like him’, still makes me cry.

I didn’t know all of his books but loved reading Peepbo, Each Peach Pear Plum and the Jolly Postman with DS when he was little. He’s 24 next week.

like others I loved the sentence about the landing mirror and the baby just like him.

My two had this book. I still have it somewhere because I loved it so much.

Exactly the same for me too! I thought it was just me that stumbled at the mirror - its just so real, beautiful and familiar 🥲

Me too! ‘Face the front David Briggs(?) what have you been told’

My favourite teacher was Mrs Butler, and she read ‘Please Mrs Butler’ to us often.

So sad 😢 many happy memories of reading Burglar Bill to DS ❤️ and Cops and Robbers - Funnybones is brilliant. Such lovely stories written by a wonderful storyteller 🥰

My children and I loved his books, particular Peepo and Each Peach Pear Plum. One of my son's first words was Peepo. For some reason I thought AA lived in America - it makes no sense and I have no clue why as he clearly isn't American (I blame Dr Seuss) - anyway, one day I discovered that the lovely older man that lived in the end house on my daily walk was him!!!!!! I always smiled at him but never plucked up the courage to speak to him. A wonderful man.

My sister love Each Peach Pear Plum so much her family nickname is from that book. She bought it for every new niece or nephew. Peepo and the Baby Catalogue are my favourites but I also love:

Please Mrs Butler
This boy Derek Drew
Keeps copying my work, Miss,
What shall I do?

My Mum was a teacher and she loved it so much. Probably because it was so accurate. Allan A dying is the end of an era isn't it.

Each Peach Pear Plum
I spy Tom Thumb
Tom Thumb in the cupboard
I spy…..

I feel ridiculously sad that Allan Ahlberg has left the world. I love his stories and Janet's illustrations are beautiful. Their work was quirky and filled with kindness. I really feel they made the world a better place.

Our favourites were Peepo, Each Peach Pear Plum, the Happy Families books and Burglar Bill (Boglaboll for us too!). It makes me feel warm just remembering all the happy, snuggly bed times with these wonderful books.