On 8th October, I was fortunate to be able take my children to this celebration of the wonderful book, Little Leap Forward, held at The Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank, London.
The performance opened to the soaring sound of Guo Yue's lyrical flute piercing the auditorium. The hall, packed with previously restless school children, was hushed by the pure beauty of the flute's notes. The sounds of ancient China transported the audience back to the traditional courtyards of old Beijing.
This memorable event brought the story of Yue's childhood (Little Leap Forward) to life through his music and the playful enthusiasm and Clare Farrow's melodic reading. Interwoven with kite flying, stories and pictures, it was a magical experience.
Yue told of his childhood ambition to reproduce the beautiful sounds of the wild songbirds. Once more, his flute soared, like the songs of the birds, into the audience. Then he demonstrated how his friend, Little Little, caught a songbird. Yue called her Little Cloud, built her a cage and tried to coax her to sing by playing his bamboo flute but the bird remained silent. Only when Yue set her free, did she sing again. Clare then explained that, remarkably, the sale of songbirds was banned throughout China in January 2008 - an event that coincided with the publication of Little Leap Forward.
Throughout the performance, overhead projections of the book's colourful illustrations and old photographs of the courtyard and Yue's family brought the era to life. Yue described how the courtyards vibrated every evening to the chopping of vegetables and that there was always companionship and fun, despite the hardships.
Yue explained that he was named "Leap Forward" as it represented the coming of the Cultural Revolution or "the great leap forward." He then told of the harsh realities of the new regime; the destruction of poetry and culture, the breaking up of families, (his own mother - an English teacher - was sent to do hard labour in the country, all her books, pictures and poems were destroyed). Yue also demonstrated the musical restrictions, by playing the harsh, military tunes that became the only music allowed in the new China.
Despite the power of the Red Guards, they failed to stop the children from flying their kites. Yue showed us a kite from old Beijing - gorgeous and vibrant with poems tied to its tail. When they were banned the children made kites from plain, flimsy paper but still they flew - a defiant symbol of freedom.
Yue's child-like exuberance (my daughter described him as "itching to play" engaged the children in the audience throughout the performance and culminated in a lively and interesting question and answer session!
My children referred to the experience as "inspirational" and "touching", which is a tribute to the story itself and to the remarkable talents of Guo Yue and Clare Farrow.
On 1st October Oxford Children’s Books held their Autumn Author Dinner at Cafe des Amis, Covent Garden to celebrate the launch of three new books.
Nikki Beilinski attended on behalf of Armadillo and her appetising report follows.
It is always infinitely pleasant, after hard day’s work, to be greeted by a champagne reception and delicious dinner with a group of people involved in children's books. With OUP editors and publicists, school librarians, review magazine editors, book buyers, agents and other interesting people I haven’t mentioned (including the doyenne, Julia Eccleshare), the conversation was intoxicating... In between courses the authors and illustrator spoke of their work and/or read from their new books.
‘Appetizer’
Firstly came the reprint of The Thirteen days of Christmas. First published in 1972, written by Jenny Overton and heart-warmingly illustrated by the one and only Shirley Hughes. Jenny spoke of the spontaneous inception of the story and Shirley explained the pleasure she had illustrating it. I found this a charming and witty story to read. Three children long for their older sister Annaple, to marry her sweetheart, she will, however only be wooed if he brings her a very unusual present... The vividly defined historical background to this story gives a lovely feel for Christmas’s past.
‘Main course’
The seemingly indomitable Geraldine McCaughrean, has a new book entitled The Death Defying Pepper Roux. Geraldine read from her gripping, death-defying story of Pepper, who has been told he will die on his 14th birthday... but he isn't ready to fulfil that prophecy! Can he avoid that fate if he slips away into another life? He sets sail on a sea of adventures, taking on many personas as he tries to outrun his foretold destiny. Can he stay one step ahead of death? Pepper Roux made for a very filling main course...
‘Sweets’
OUP have also published the first novel of illustrator and caricaturist, Neale Osborne, Lydia’s Tin Lid Drum. Neale also read from his book, a quest story through the land of Likrishka where the heroine, Lydia, lives. She and her new friends travel through jungles, tunnels, caves, natural and man-made hazards to find a number of forbidden and dangerous sweets – to save the world from the evil Master Chef. Set in the fantasy world of Planet Plenti, this novelty sugary, sweetie story will be very tasty for some.
With pepper (?roux!) ice cream to finish off our meal at the superb Cafe des Amis, I think OUP had a very successful autumnal book launch!
Laura Taylor recently enjoyed an afternoon matinee performance of David Almond's Skellig in Newcastle. Her she has generously written her thoughts and feelings about the event for readers of Armadillo Magazine.
In recent years, David Almond's classic children's story, 'Skellig,' has been successfully adapted, both into a popular Sky1 film, and into an opera, staged at Gateshead's Sage venue. This autumn Birmingham Stage Company has once again brought the much-loved tale to Almond's home town of Newcastle in a wonderful production at The Tyne Journal Theatre. I attended the matinee performance, which was played to a packed out theatre of excitable school children, all of whom seemed enthralled from start to finish.
First impressions of the stage are breath-taking; comprising of one large structure of what appears to be mostly rubbish, and a particularly gruesome-looking toilet producing an enthusiastic reaction from the young audience. The set is moved throughout the performance to show subtle changes, as the audience are welcomed further and further into Skellig's hideaway. The imaginative, compact design perfectly compliments the intimate tone of the story.
It is always unnerving when you come to experience any adaptation - especially when the original is so perfectly written. However this production does great justice to the book; most of the dialogue stays close to Almond's original narration, and seeing the magic unfold before your eyes only helps to set the story alight. The cast do a superb job, most playing several characters at a time, and when not directly involved in a scene, each member of the company assists the story by narrating, or providing live musical accompaniment. Dressed all in black, the cast stay very closely grouped together throughout and this technique is incredibly effective, particularly in the more poignant scenes when the music builds up and evokes real emotion. There are one or two occasions when the music threatens to distract from the dialogue, but this is a minor complaint.
Overall this is a thrilling production. Deal Logan as Michael and Charlotte Sanderson as Mina are both wonderfully childlike yet profound, and Neal Foster is mesmerising throughout as the angel Skellig. My only real issue with the entire production was to do the unveiling of Skellig's wings. This, a crucial moment in the story, was built up wonderfully with dramatic dialogue and fantastic music, but the scene seemed to lack the drama that it deserved and the wings themselves were smaller than I had imagined. I felt a mutual suspense with the audience as the unveiling drew closer, and a shared disappointment afterwards. However, this disappointment is soon forgotten as the play reaches its end and the audience are once again drawn into the raw emotion of the story.
This production produced laughs, tears and a genuine feeling of warmth. I'm sure that both fans of the book and those new to the story of Skellig will find this production absolutely fantastic.
Editorial