TWELFTH BOOK Published 1975 BP Team: Lesley Judd, John Noakes, Peter Purves, Val Singleton Cover: "Pride of place on our cover goes to a very special pin-up - Petra". Yes indeed, for the first time since Book 4 the animal stars take the front page, Shep and Jason joining the grand old lady of Blue Peter. Features: Peter goes motor bike scrambling and stunt riding, several years before commentating on Kick Start... The expedition travels to Thailand and Bangkok although ladyboys are notable by their absence... There's also a flashback to Val's Special Assignments masquerading as a quiz... The appeal collects buttons, badges and buckles to raise guide dog funds. One of the dogs bought is called, unsurprisingly, Buttons... Oxford University holds a tortoise race and Freda is the specially-invited guest... A profile of Petra... Lesley climbs the scaffolding to clean an eagle statue at the top of the Natural History museum... The flying ballet 'spectacular' presented on the Christmas edition of the show - Val and Lesley are flying fairies, John and Pete are giant budgies... John's infamous flight down a sleigh run without a sleigh; "I completed the course on my backside". Includes a photo of John baring his bruises later in the studio... Work begins on the Blue Peter garden on 21 March 1974, a working crop garden rather than the ponced up Italian job of later years... Val looks into some priest holes... Makes: Postcard table mats - guess what? Table mats made out of postcards. Spinning pictures - technicolour yawn style 'pictures' can be yours if you are patient enough to build this motorised picture spinner and throw paint all over your house (we remember this being available as Tony Hart's Picture Wheel many years later!) How to make cargo for a freight train on your train set. Logs, timber, stone chippings (really lentils stuck to card) and long and short pipes. Wow! Historical Figure's Life Story in Pictures: The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Stories: Bleep and Booster and Paddington - Bengo gets his jotters it would seem. Rubbish Mystery Story: The Case of the Maltese Cross Notes: Again Val is barely in here, leading us to question her dwindling role in the programme in the mid-70s - generally she became the 'roving reporter' and of course undertook the 'Special Assignments' (Val's Assignments specials went out between 1974 and 1977, Peter Purves taking over the helm for a run in 1979). For a comparatively recent annual this is really very rare and harder to find than several annuals of greater age (9, 10, 11), so expect up to a fiver from some dealers if not more than that. Our theory is that the rarity is all down to some technical changes; the cover is matt rather than glossy and so gets dirty and/or torn rather easily, while the spine is badly made, leading to bits of spine easily coming detached. The tendency with such knackered books of course is to throw them out - it could be that this book has simply not survived as well as the others...