Ladybird Books artwork unveiled at University of Reading

The free exhibition will be open to the public from 11 March

Illustrations taken from more than 100 years of Ladybird Books are being put on show for the first time.

The gallery at Reading University's Museum of Rural Life contains examples from its collection of 20,000 pieces of original artwork.

The free exhibition will open from 11 March - a month after the release of a new book co-authored by Prince Charles, the patron of the museum.

Watercolours, ink drawings and oil paintings are among those on display and range from postcard to A3 size.

The gallery contains more than 20,000 pieces of original artwork

Museum director Kate Arnold-Forster said the exhibition would also allow fans to see the venue's "wall of books".

She said: "It is a happy coincidence that we can launch the gallery with a display drawn from a new Ladybird book written by the museum's patron, HRH The Prince of Wales.

The exhibition was revealed for the first time on Thursday

"That this also deals with a subject that is important to all our futures shows how far Ladybird has come from its humble beginnings just over a century ago."

The exhibition will run until 2 July.

It comes after a month after the release of a new book co-authored by Prince Charles

The exhibition will run until 2 July

Museum director Kate Arnold-Forster said the exhibition would also allow fans to see the venue's "wall of books"