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Children's books: 7 and under | The Guardian
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Lilian Baylis studio, Sadler’s Wells, London
Full of dancey japes, games and satisfyingly tactile characters, BalletLorent have created an enjoyably gentle adaptation of Margery Williams’ classic story
British audiences might not be as familiar as Americans with Margery Williams’ 1922 children’s book The Velveteen Rabbit but it’s a classic for a reason. The story of a soft toy rabbit, first overlooked in favour of shiny mechanical toys but ultimately loved by its owner so deeply that the toy rabbit becomes real.
Liv Lorent and dance company BalletLorent have created a gentle adaptation, the story told in voiceover (by actor Ben Crompton) woven with scenes of dancey japes and games. We’re given the tale in hindsight, the boy now a man, remembering his much-loved toys. In fact there are almost two stories, one about the boy and his toy rabbit’s enduring love, the other about the rabbit wanting to become real. It doesn’t make for an entirely satisfying arc.
Continue reading...Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, London
Fun songs and exciting immersive touches delight children and adults alike in a lively picture book adaptation from actor Cush Jumbo and Katy Sechiari
‘Ha ha!” laughs my six-year-old as a knitted mole pops out of the ground and sneakily drinks a carton of Ribena. There’s a lot of amusement and delight in this lively adaptation of the kids’ picture book Bear Snores On, originally created by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman, and given new life here by co-writers and directors Katy Sechiari and Cush Jumbo (the actor, quite the switch of direction since her last role playing Lady Macbeth).
A group of animals shelter from a storm in the cave of a hibernating bear, and after a short alfresco intro we join them inside, in a specially created space (so actual inclement weather won’t disrupt the show too much). We get there through a tunnel lit up by the LED wristbands we’ve all been given, a nice immersive touch. “That was really exciting. The wristbands were amazing!” says my son Jamie, who’s also very impressed by some UV light effects on the cave walls – designer Rebecca Brower has done a great job, especially on the chunky knitted costumes that give Mouse, Badger and Hare a Central Saint Martins meets Gardeners’ World kind of vibe.
Continue reading...Painter and storyteller, who revived father’s picture-book series about elephant king, said he didn’t consciously write for young people
Babar author Laurent de Brunhoff, who revived his father’s popular picture-book series about an elephant-king and presided over its rise to a global multimedia franchise, has died at the age of 98.
De Brunhoff, who was from Paris and moved to the US in the 1980s, died on Friday at his home in Key West, Florida, after being in hospice care for two weeks, according to his widow, Phyllis Rose.
Continue reading...A fantastical celebration of dim sum, Tim Hopgood’s update of a 19th-century poem and a feline sleuth in a hoodie tracks down a missing bird
From Michael Rosen’s joyous ode to chocolate cake to the sumptuous, soporific picnics in the Brambly Hedge series, delicious feasts abound in books for young children. For her moreish debut, Dim Sum Palace (Pushkin, 1 Feb), Taiwanese-American author X Fang takes inspiration from her deep yearning for restaurant dumplings during lockdown, while paying homage to the doughy, dreamy world of Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen, one of her childhood favourites.
Excited about a family trip for dim sum the next day, Liddy can’t sleep. After she follows the trail of a tantalising smell out of her bedroom, she slips into a dreamlike palace where two giant chefs are preparing jumbo-size buns, baos and treats. She soon finds herself mistakenly wrapped up in a dumpling about to be served to an empress. A fantastical celebration of eating, Fang’s chunky, outsized illustrations seem to reflect Liddy’s big feelings about food. A gallery of exquisitely drawn dim sum adorns the endpapers, each treat neatly labelled, while Liddy herself is full of childish expressiveness – whether scowling at being squashed under a blanket of dumpling filling or gleefully tucking into lunch.
Continue reading...Aviva Studios, Manchester
Musician-puppeteers help tell the tale of a boy and a penguin in this carefully crafted adaptation of the popular picture book
There’s more than one super furry animal powering this lively adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ picture book. Gruff Rhys provides the score but there’s a supporting cast of cuddly plush seagull puppets as well as a huggable penguin with velvety flippers and a coat that seems to comprise hundreds of shower poufs.
The gulls, operated by a gang of fisherfolk musician-puppeteers, start by giving the young audience a friendly peck, swiping a teacher’s woolly hat – to the delight of their school group – and threatening to slurp someone’s coffee. Under Olly Taylor’s puppetry direction, they fittingly keep a constant presence in this seaside tale, their squawks accompanying Rhys’s score which is a buoyant mix of folk, funk – for a bathtub scene with glittery soapsuds – and ambient sounds evoking the ocean’s open wonder, heightened by Jai Morjaria’s lighting.
At Aviva Studios, Manchester, until 6 January
Continue reading...News and communications from Department for Education (DfE)
