Treasure

Having spent most of the day scanning images from Treasure I thought it might be nice to see how the magazine started. Treasure was a companion to Look and Learn, aimed at a primary school age group with a mixture of educational features (mostly concerning animals, history and religious tales), folk tales, a fairy tale (Princess Marigold) and the ever-present adventures of the Tufty Club (from the road safety campaign).

I was surprised to find that Treasure only merited one mention in Look and Learn, although that was a good half-page timed to coincide with the launch issue, taking over the usual editorial spot on Look and Learn's second page.

The free gift given away with that first issue is quite scarce, so I was very pleased to find a copy when I picked up a stack of Treasures a few years ago (little realising that one day I'd be spending my days scanning them!). It's a nice little 16-page booklet filled with pictures of animals.

We're fortunate enough to have the original artwork from the first issue of Treasure in the Look and Learn archive -- I noticed it recently on a trip into the office and was surprised to see how rough it looked, with a large section patched over the original board. What I didn't realise at the time was that the artwork had been changed quite dramatically, with different children and a few extra toys and activities (paint box, radio, bike, etc.) replacing the original kingfisher. I'm not sure where the second version of the artwork appeared but it was obviously redrawn by the same artist, Clive Uptton.

(All artwork here is © Look and Learn Magazine Ltd. There's lots more Treasure artwork to be found at the Look and Learn website. 4,046 images at the last count.)