Shortly after I first read The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, I wrote to Iona and Peter Opie to pass on a playground chant from my schooldays. To my surprise and delight, within a week I received a letter from Iona commenting in detail on where my offering fitted their research.
Thus began a correspondence that lasted 45 years and included examples from my daughters’ school playgrounds and those of grandchildren. For each letter of mine Iona would respond promptly, warmly and fully, on occasion informing me that my contribution was “not previously known to the Opie archive”.
Of course, I was not alone. Iona once noted that so much of the information she and Peter gathered, analysed and wrote about reached them through “the kindness of friends”. Those friends included legions of schoolteachers, parents and any who observed the children’s worlds with interest and fascination. The result is a unique and irreplaceable contribution to our understanding of the nature of childhood and children’s experience.
