Ant and Bee
Children's book series
The Ant and Bee stories are a series of small-format hardback books written by Angela Banner (pseudonym of Angela Mary Maddison [nee Lincke], 1923–2014).
She began writing the books in order to teach her son how to read. Angela Mary Lincke married Major Lionel Henry Mosse Parsons and had two children.
The first volume was published in the United Kingdom in 1950 and the last in 1972 by Edmund Ward Limited, later Kaye & Ward. At least some volumes were published in the United States by Franklin Watts Inc. The books were reprinted by Trafalgar Square Publishing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. New editions of certain volumes were published in 2013 by Egmont UK Limited.
Angela Banner wrote all the books in the series and also illustrated the last four. Earlier volumes were illustrated by Bryan Ward, but the 2013 editions of these volumes feature illustrations by the author.
Simple three- and four-letter words occur repeatedly and are printed in red type for children to read out while a parent reads the rest.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ant and Bee” as children's book series. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as children's book series. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4770846. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1923, 2014, 1950 and 1972.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ant and Bee”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ant and Bee primary sources, Ant and Bee archive and Children's research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ant and Bee”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ant and Bee” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.