The Bucket by Allan Ahlberg - the enthralling childhood story one of Britain's best-loved children's authors
'My mother, who was not my mother, I see her now, her raw red cleaner's hands twisting away at her apron as she struggled to speak. Adoption was a shameful business then in many people's eyes, the babies being mostly illegitimate. Better not speak of it.'
Allan Ahlberg was adopted as a baby. In 1938 he was picked up in London by his new mother and taken back to Oldbury in the Black Country. Now one of the most successful children's book writers in the world, in The Bucket he describes an oddly enchanted childhood lived out in an industrial town during the 1940s, in conditions which today we might describe as 'deprived'. He writes of a father in overalls smelling of wood shavings and oil, of a tough and fiercely protective mother who cries when he discovers that he is adopted, of life assurance policies ('£6 if the child dies under age 3') and fearsome bacon slicers, of half-remembered trips to his mother's sister's grave and to the bluebell woods. And of his first days at school: 'Allan could do much better. He is most inattentive and dreamy at times' (school report, December 1946).
Using a mix of prose and poetry, supported by new drawings by his daughter Jessica and old photographs, The Bucket retrieves a childhood which lovers of Ahlberg's classic picturebooks The Baby's Catalogue, Burglar Bill and Peepo! might feel they have glimpsed before but which are now exquisitely brought to life.
This beautiful, exquisitely designed book, which will also appeal to fans of Gervase Phinn, Alan Bennett, Roald Dahl and Nigel Slater's Toast, will be loved by generations of Ahlberg fans.
'Allan Ahlberg has a string of children's classics to his name' Nicolette Jones, Guardian
Born in Croydon but brought up by his adopted parents in the Black Country town of Oldbury, Allan Ahlberg held jobs as a gravedigger, postman and plumber's mate before becoming a teacher. He taught for ten years before collaborating with his wife Janet on a series of much-loved, now classic children's picture books including Peepo!, Burglar Bill, Cops and Robbers, Each Peach Pear Plum, Woof!, Heard it in the Playground, Please Mrs Butler, The Boyhood of Burglar Bill, The Pencil, Friendly Matches, The Improbable Cat, Goldilocks, My Brother's Ghost, The Mighty Slide, Collected Poems, The Boy, the Wolf, the Sheep and the Lettuce and The Ha Ha Bonk Book.

Allan Ahlberg
Allan Ahlberg is one of the most acclaimed authors of children's book-writing today. His popular titles (many of which were illustrated by his late wife, Janet) include Each Peach Pear Plum, Peepo! and The Jolly Postman. He lives in Bath.
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The Ha Ha Bonk Book von Allan Ahlberg
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Please Mrs Butler von Allan Ahlberg
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My Worst Book Ever von Allan Ahlberg
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Peepo! (Board Book) von Allan Ahlberg
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Funnybones: Mystery Tour von Allan Ahlberg
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Miss Dirt the Dustman's Daughter von Allan Ahlberg
Miss Dirt the Dustman's Daughter
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7,99 €
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Funnybones: The Black Cat: A Funnybones Story von Allan Ahlberg
Funnybones: The Black Cat: A Funnybones Story
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14,99 €
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Master Track's Train von Allan Ahlberg
Master Track's Train
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7,99 €
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Mrs Vole the Vet von Allan Ahlberg
Mrs Vole the Vet
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Kicking a Ball von Allan Ahlberg
Kicking a Ball
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Baby on Board von Allan Ahlberg
Baby on Board
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Jeremiah in the Dark Woods von Allan Ahlberg
Jeremiah in the Dark Woods
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Burglar Bill von Allan Ahlberg
Burglar Bill
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8,99 €
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The Children Who Smelled a Rat von Allan Ahlberg
The Children Who Smelled a Rat
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8,99 €
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Master Bun the Bakers' Boy von Allan Ahlberg
Master Bun the Bakers' Boy
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The Woman Who Won Things von Allan Ahlberg
The Woman Who Won Things
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The Man Who Wore All His Clothes von Allan Ahlberg
The Man Who Wore All His Clothes
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Previously von Allan Ahlberg
Previously
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9,99 €
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The Baby's Catalogue von Allan Ahlberg
The Baby's Catalogue
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Starting School von Allan Ahlberg
Starting School
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8,99 €
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The Pencil von Allan Ahlberg
The Pencil
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Mr Biff the Boxer von Allan Ahlberg
Mr Biff the Boxer
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7,99 €
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Mrs Wobble the Waitress von Allan Ahlberg
Mrs Wobble the Waitress
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8,99 €
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Mrs Lather's Laundry von Allan Ahlberg
Mrs Lather's Laundry
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8,99 €
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Mr Tick the Teacher von Allan Ahlberg
Mr Tick the Teacher
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7,99 €
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Baby's Big Box of Little Books von Allan Ahlberg
Baby's Big Box of Little Books
Allan Ahlberg
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9,99 €
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The Bravest Ever Bear von Allan Ahlberg
The Bravest Ever Bear
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7,99 €
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Funnybones: Skeleton Crew von Allan Ahlberg
Funnybones: Skeleton Crew
Allan Ahlberg
Buch (Taschenbuch)
7,99 €
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Miss Jump the Jockey von Allan Ahlberg
Miss Jump the Jockey
Allan Ahlberg
Buch (Taschenbuch)
7,99 €
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Master Money the Millionaire von Allan Ahlberg
Master Money the Millionaire
Allan Ahlberg
Buch (Taschenbuch)
7,99 €
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Bye Bye Baby von Allan Ahlberg
Bye Bye Baby
Allan Ahlberg
Buch (Taschenbuch)
8,99 €
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Que Risa de Huesos! von Allan Ahlberg
Que Risa de Huesos!
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Buch (gebundene Ausgabe)
19,99 €
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Peek-A-Boo von Allan Ahlberg
Peek-A-Boo
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Buch (gebundene Ausgabe)
7,99 €
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Ahlberg, A: The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters von Allan Ahlberg
Ahlberg, A: The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters
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It Was a Dark and Stormy Night von Allan Ahlberg
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
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7,99 €
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Cops and Robbers von Allan Ahlberg
Cops and Robbers
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7,99 €
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Hooray for Bread von Allan Ahlberg
Hooray for Bread
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2,99 €
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The Cat Who Got Carried Away von Allan Ahlberg
The Cat Who Got Carried Away
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Miss Brick the Builders' Baby von Allan Ahlberg
Miss Brick the Builders' Baby
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8,99 €
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Everybody Was a Baby Once: And Other Poems von Allan Ahlberg
Everybody Was a Baby Once: And Other Poems
Allan Ahlberg
Buch (gebundene Ausgabe)
17,99 €
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The Runaway Dinner von Allan Ahlberg
The Runaway Dinner
Allan Ahlberg
Buch (Taschenbuch)
9,99 €
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Funnybones: The Ghost Train von Allan Ahlberg
Funnybones: The Ghost Train
Allan Ahlberg
Buch (Taschenbuch)
8,99 €
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Funnybones: The Pet Shop: A Funnybones Story von Allan Ahlberg
Funnybones: The Pet Shop: A Funnybones Story
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14,99 €