Last month we interviewed artist Miriam Elia about her hilarious ‘Dung Beetle’ book We go to the Gallery , a satirical take on the Ladybird reading scheme books of old that followed siblings Peter and Jane on various adventures and domestic discoveries.
Having been threatened with legal action by Penguin, Miriam made some changes to her humorous project. The brother and sister became John and Susan, who visit the gallery with mummy who teaches them about art. The books proved very popular and are currently on their third print run.
Since the Dung Beetle publication Penguin have launched its own series of satirical books that poke fun at the Ladybird publications. This has not gone unnoticed by fans of Miriam’s book and there was soon a storm on social media.
Miriam has focused any anger about this into her work, creating a new book cover called We Sue an Artist, then rip off her idea. She told the Guardian: “I’m well, just a little angry! Rather than slinging insults on Twitter, I thought I would create a ‘satirical Ladybird book’ about the situation.”
Do read her response, detailing what she has learned, to the whole situation. It is a very funny response to an all too familiar situation for many women – putting us in mind of the Fast Show’s Invisible Woman sketch.
