And Miss Carter Wore Pink: Scenes from an Edwardian Childhood

Helen Bradley's autobiographical picture books #1

by Helen Bradley

A grandmother recalls through paintings and text her turn-of-the century childhood in northern England.

Genres: Picture Books, History, Nonfiction, Art, Biography

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Helen Bradley was an artist best known for paintings for her Edwardian childhood.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book to look through. A grandmother recalls her childhood at the turn of the century. The paintings are packed with detail, children playing, street scenes, dogs cavorting, so much to look at. I love the style, they remind me of Barbara Cooney.

Unfortunately I saw this for sale once but didn't have enough money to buy it, I hope I come across this again. I read this on open library, the text is tiny and sadly when you enlarge this some of the text gets cut off at the edge so it wasn't easy to read. The pictures have so much detail you really need an actual copy to appreciate this properly.

Read on open library.

Just bought a copy. This is such a wonderful book to look through. A very interesting slice of life piece of history. I so enjoyed the stories as well as the beautiful paintings. I loved the Christmas party painting and story, it really made me laugh. Father Christmas is exposed as being Mr Thornley, two of the teachers are ill, two boys have started fighting, one child has wet themselves, another feels sick, brought back happy memories of children's Christmas parties! The ice skating scene is beautiful. The stories are told from a child's perspective and very enjoyable. Highly recommended for those who love history, biographies and beautiful illustrations.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book was the first bad experience I had on Open Library. It was poorly scanned and text was cut off and too tiny to really read. The illustrations make the book though and I could view them well enough. I love the art style. There is so much to view. The pictures are so intricate, so detailed. The illustrations are worth 5 stars in my opinion. I’m holding off on write a full review, hoping I can find a paper copy somewhere, or perhaps even a better copy at Open Library or other places online. Great photo in the back of Miss Carter/the author at her easel.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a little treasure. So many things I love about it.

1. Helen is a darling - look at this woman!





2. Her motivation - to show her grandchildren what life was like for her.

3. She started painting at the age of 65!

4. I love memoirs anyway.

5. The paintings are really good - in the "Grandma Moses" vein - folk/naive art. I especially love the bird's-eye point-of-view the paintings have.

6. The text is short and sweet - the pictures tell a much bigger story, and leave me wanting more.


7. The title adds that perfect touch of charm and mystery - what was Miss Carter all about? And why the pink dress? Now I have to read the next book!


The book is available on Open Library, so it's easily accessible although the text and pictures were cut short in the scanning process, and I had to fill in the blanks a little, which was irritating. My e-reader screen is small, too, so not as impressive as the physical book would be, I know. However! A rare book! Not in my local libraries, so I'm thankful for OL.

Highly recommended for any art-and-memoir-loving individual.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this in a charity shop and liked it so much I went on to buy the other three in the series from online sellers. Helen Bradley began painting scenes from her childhood to show her grandchildren what her life had been like when she was their age. Influenced by Lowry, the pictures have a childlike quality which makes them very endearing. It's a lot of fun to pick out all the details, such as the family's dogs Gyp and Barney.

This first book introduces us to Helen's family and their close friends as well as the places she knew so well as a child. She gives us tantalising glimpses of the adults' world, as seen through a child's eyes, and it's clear that the author found great joy in bringing that long lost world back to life.

[Sula · Rating 3 out of 5]

A picture book with vignettes of the author's childhood in the Edwardian Era. I felt the artwork reminded me of L.S. Lowry's artwork, and interestingly it turned out they were friends!

[Sarah Coller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story with beautifully painted illustrations.