''Look and Learn'' was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from

volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

to the

Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster ( gd, Uilebheist Loch Nis), affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or mor ...

; a long running

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

, ''

The Trigan Empire ''The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire'', later called simply ''The Trigan Empire'', is a science fiction comic series written mainly by Mike Butterworth with artwork (initially watercolours, later gouache) by Don Lawrence, among others. It ...

''; adaptations of famous works of literature into comic-strip form, such as ''

Lorna Doone ''Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor'' is a novel by English author Richard Doddridge Blackmore, published in 1869. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly ar ...

''; and serialized works of fiction such as ''

The First Men in the Moon ''The First Men in the Moon'' is a scientific romance by the English author H. G. Wells, originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from December 1900 to August 1901 and published in hardcover in 1901, who called it one of his "fantastic ...

''. The illustrators who worked on the magazine included

Fortunino Matania Chevalier Fortunino Matania (16 April 1881 – 8 February 1963) was an Italian artist noted for his realistic portrayal of World War I trench warfare and of a wide range of historical subjects. Life Born in Naples, the son of artist Eduardo Mat ...

John Millar Watt John Millar Watt (14 October 1895 – 13 December 1975) was a British painter, illustrator and comics artist who created the comic strip ''Pop''. Early life Born in Greenock on the River Clyde, Scotland, the son of James H. Watt, an engineer, ...

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

, John Worsley,

Ron Embleton Ronald Sydney Embleton (6 October 1930 – 13 February 1988) was a British illustrator who gained fame as a comics artist. In the 1950s and 1960s, Embleton also pursued a career as an oil painter, and he exhibited his works widely in Britain, Ger ...

Gerry Embleton Gerry Embleton is a British artist, born in London. He is best known as an illustrator of military and historic subjects. He has illustrated more than 40 titles for the military publisher Osprey. He is the younger brother of illustrator Ron Embl ...

, C. L. Doughty, Wilf Hardy,

Dan Escott Daniel Alexander Escott (born 26 September 1996) is an English cricketer and schoolteacher. On his first-class debut, playing for Oxford University, he scored a century and took six wickets in an innings. Cricket career Escott attended Winch ...

Angus McBride Angus McBride (11 May 1931 – 15 May 2007) was an English historical and fantasy illustrator. Early life Born in London to Highland Scots parents, Angus McBride was orphaned as a child, his mother dying when he was five years old, and his f ...

, Oliver Frey, James E. McConnell, Kenneth Lilly, R. B. Davis and Clive Uptton. Among other things, it featured the Pen-Friends pages, a popular section where readers could make new friends overseas.

Pre-publication history

''Look and Learn'' was the brainchild of

Leonard Matthews Leonard James Matthews (10 October 1914 – 9 November 1997) was a British editor, publisher, writer and illustrator of comics and children's magazines, best known as the founder of the educational magazine ''Look and Learn''. Early life Born in ...

, the editorial director of juvenile publications at

Fleetway Publications Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that merg ...

which was already publishing the long-running '' Children's Newspaper''. An early attempt by Matthews to launch a new educational title along the lines of Italian educational magazines ''Conoscere'' and ''La Vita Meravigliosa'' had been turned down by the Board of Directors. A British edition of ''Conoscere'' was brought out in 1961 under the title ''Knowledge'' and Matthews reassessed his original proposal and approached the Board again, this time receiving the go-ahead to produce a dummy of the proposed magazine. The dummy was put together by the firm's Experimental Art Department headed by David Roberts and Trevor Newton. David Stone, a former sub-editor with ''

Everybody's Weekly ''Everybody’s Weekly'' was weekly tabloid founded 1913 in London as ''The Competitors' Journal''. The publication was widely syndicated in the United States. ''Everybody's'', then owned and published by Everybody’s Publications Ltd., was acq ...

'', was appointed editor and, with the dummy approved, the magazine began publication. However, before the new title reached the newsstands, John Sanders replaced Stone as editor.

Publication history

The first issue of ''Look and Learn'' was dated 20 January 1962, and contained a wide spectrum of features ranging from articles on history (Rome, the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

, the story of King Charles I, "The

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Road", "From Then Till Now"), science ("Eyes on

Outer Space Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, pred ...

"), geography and geology (

The Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mi ...

, "The Quest for

Oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

"), art (

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...

), nature ("The story of a

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

", "Your Very Own

Basset Hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ''ground-scent'' is second only to the Bloodhound.Har ...

"), literature (

The Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

and its editor

Sir Richard Burton Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...

) and travel ("The Children of Tokio"). The debut issue also contained the first episodes of "

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a tw ...

" by

Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...

and "The Children's Crusade" by

Henry Treece Henry Treece (22 December 1911 – 10 June 1966) was a British poet and writer who also worked as a teacher and editor. He wrote a range of works but is mostly remembered as a writer of children's historical novels. Life and work Treece wa ...

and a feature on the founding of the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

. The first issue of the magazine sold about 700,000 copies and settled down to a regular sale of over 300,000 copies a week. The success of the magazine has been put down to the high quality of the magazine's content. Historian Steve Holland has said, "The premise of ''Look and Learn'' was to delight and inspire the imaginations of its young readers. To advance this principle, the features were clearly and briskly written and illustrated by some of the finest artists of the era resulting in a magazine of unmatched quality." The first major change to the contents of the magazine came in 1966 when it incorporated ''

Ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

'' with issue 232 (25 June 1966). This amalgamation brought with it a number of

s including '' The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire'', written by

Mike Butterworth John Michael Butterworth (10 January 1924 – 4 October 1986) was a British comic book writer, best known for his comic strip '' The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire'' in the British weeklies ''Ranger'' and ''Look and Learn''. Life Butt ...

and drawn by

Don Lawrence Donald Southam Lawrence (17 November 1928 – 29 December 2003) was a British comic book artist and author. Lawrence is best known for his comic strips '' The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire'' in the British weeklies ''Ranger'' and ''Look ...

. The French

Asterix ''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, wi ...

'' also featured. The adventure ''

Asterix and Cleopatra ''Asterix and Cleopatra'' is the sixth book in the Asterix album series by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. It was first published in serial form in ''Pilote'' magazine, issues 215–257, in 1963. Synopsis The book begins with an argument be ...

'' appears under the title ''In the Days of Good Queen Cleo'', with the

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

s turned into

Ancient Britons The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point the ...

, with

and

Obelix Obelix (; french: Obélix) is a cartoon character in the French comic book series ''Asterix''. He works as a menhir sculptor and deliveryman, and is Asterix's best friend. Obelix is noted for his obesity, the menhirs he carries around on his bac ...

renamed "Beric" and "Doric". This amalgamation was overseen by recently appointed editor John Davies who had replaced Sanders when the latter left to edit the short-lived ''

'' in 1965. Davies had previously edited ''The Children's Newspaper'' until it merged with ''Look and Learn'' (issue 173, 8 May 1965). It amalgamated with its competitor '' Finding Out'' in 1967. Davies continued the magazine with the same mixture as before (the page count of the magazine having increased from 32 pages to 36 to accommodate the additional content), as did the editors who followed him, Andy Vincent (1969–1977) and Jack Parker (1977–1982). The magazine absorbed ''World of Wonder'' in March 1975, and ''Speed & Power'' with issue no. 724 (29 November 1975). It was under Parker's editorship that the paper underwent a facelift with issue 844 (18 March 1978), absorbed ''World of Knowledge'' in early 1981, and celebrated its 1,000th issue later that same year (9 May 1981). Sales had, however, been declining throughout the 1970s, a decade which had seen the price of the paper rise from 7½

pence A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

to 30

due to sharply increasing production costs. Price increases in the early 1980s added a further 10

to the weekly cost of the magazine and the editor had to admit that "we simply do not sell enough to meet the very heavy cost of producing a magazine of the quality of ''Look and Learn'' and we are therefore unable to continue publication." ''Look and Learn'' folded with issue 1049, dated 17 April 1982.

Comic strip section

It did include a

section, the most important strip was ''

'', a

series written mainly by

and most notably drawn by

, which first appeared in ''

'' in September 1965. It transferred to ''Look and Learn'' in issue 232, June 1966 when the two titles merged, and ran there until the title ceased publication. It told the story of an alien culture that contained an educational blend of science and Earth-like ancient civilizations. Another strip was '' Rob Riley'', also originally from ''Ranger''.

Notes

External links

''Look and Learn'' Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Look and Learn Children's magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom Education magazines Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Fleetway and IPC Comics titles Magazines established in 1962 Magazines disestablished in 1982 1962 comics debuts 1982 comics endings Educational comics Science fiction comics