BLOG ARCHIVES

  • TOP TIPS ON TENNIS, TWINS AND #TISSUES ON #CBEEBIES RADIO

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Books, Children's Health, Children's stories, Education, Parenting, Screenwriting, Writing for Children

    This week it’s all runny noses in my #allergies story.  You can hear  about Shaniqua’s #hayfever with #DrRanj at

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/radio/tennis-twins-and-tissues

    Why doesn’t her twin sister get it?

    And what’s the top tennis tip?

    Is there a top tennis tip? You’ll have to listen to find out.  Carefully or you’ll miss it.

    You missed it didn’t you.

    Never mind.  The story isn’t aimed at you reading this – I suspect you are much older than six.  All of these allergy podcasts are written to help younger children.  Alongside the stories, children talk about their own allergies and Dr Ranj Singh gives helpful advice.  I hope that your little ones find them useful and of course enjoyable.

  • MY #CBEEBIES #PETALLERGY STORY: IT’S GOT #DRRANJ AND #GUINEAPIGS!

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Books, Children's Health, Children's stories, Education, Nature, Parenting, Writing for Children

    Children and parents and, well anyone else, can listen to my story and find out what happens when a boy brings the school guinea pigs home in  Bohdan’s Beastly Allergy .  OK so the title has given away a bit about what happens but, look it’s got guinea pigs!  And pigeons.  And a little boy who desperately loves animals and cuddles.  And did I mention guinea pigs?

    This was possibly my favourite story in this series because the research involved guinea pigs and learning a new technical term: ‘pet dander’.   Jayne’s top tip: if dander ain’t dandy, then keep tissues handy…  Dr Ranj has proper top tips for sufferers of pet allergies at the end of the podcast.  But they don’t rhyme.

  • MY STORY ABOUT #ASTHMA IS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD ON #CBEEBIESRADIO

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Children's Health, Children's Poetry, Education, Paddlesport, Parenting, Writing for Children

    Sporty Imogen refuses to let her asthma get in the way of her having fun in this story.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/radio/imogen-takes-the-plunge

    This story draws on some of my experiences teaching kayaking to school children.   There always seemed to be at least one child with an inhaler in the class and if they were not reticent about trying something that might make them out of breath and/or falling in the river, their teachers often were.

    In this story, I wanted to show that, as long as the right precautions are taken, there is no reason why a child with asthma can’t do fun stuff or go on to make their dreams come true.  I was greatly inspired by stories of Olympic athletes like Rebecca Adlington OBE and hope that children listening to this story will be too and will go on to do amazing things.

    Oh and thanks to the great people at my local sports centre #Dursleypool for explaining why we should shower before rather than after swimming and why widdling in the pool is such a really bad idea…

     

     

  • JAYNE’S COLOURFUL STORIES AND POEMS ON CBEEBIES RADIO!

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Children's Poetry, Children's stories, Children's TV, Education, Screenwriting

    Had to abandon several plans this summer because those lovely people at CBeebies Radio asked me to to write some stories and poems for them sharpish. Hopefully my friends, real and imaginary, didn’t feel too neglected and they, especially if they’re under six years old, will enjoy the results. You can hear them from today on the BBC iplayer radio app, just look for the Cbeebies bug! Then from next Monday 6th November you can download my story The Paintpots from the CBeebies website

    The following Monday your little ones will be able to hear all about a quite magnificent Sock Drawer!

    And in between listen out for poems about the sounds of colours – how do they sound to you?

    Developing and writing these was a blast and an education. Here are some of the key things I learnt during this project:
    – Yellow is an existential colour
    – D.H. Lawrence has a lot to answer for
    – Snail snot should never be underestimated

    None of these conclusions found their way into the CBeebies material, you’ll no doubt be happy to learn. Instead, your preschoolers will enjoy discovering, for example that:
    The colour yellow is a primary colour
    But it’s a great mixer and go between.
    If blue gets all flustered, yellow really cuts the mustard,
    Shouting, “Bananas in custard!
    Hey look: we’ve made green!”

  • MY EPISODE OF LITTLE ROY IS ON I-PLAYER AND IT’S GRAND!

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Animation, Children's stories, Children's TV, Parenting, Screenwriting, Uncategorized

    Oh this was fun to write! Have you seen Roy on CBBC? The cartoon boy in a real world. Well this is the prequel – Roy is five years old instead of ten. So it’s less about fitting in and more about finding out. He is a great character and the show is a lovely crossover from preschool to big kid content and I was very pleased to be involved.

    This episode, Dr Roy, which involves bandages, biscuits and a ‘ba-doom ba-doom’ big hearted little boy, was broadcast a week or so back on CBeebies and of course I missed it. But hooray for catch up telly! If you would like to watch it, then here’s the web address: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08ffx89/little-roy-18-doctor-roy

  • IN THE SAME ROOM AS GRAYSON PERRY AND CLARE BALDING!

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Children's Media Campaign, Children's stories, Children's TV, Music, Parenting, Screenwriting

    And having too good a time to tweet about it.

    This was on Wednesday, at the Broadcast Awards at Grosvenor House. I hope they had as good a time as me, although as nominees (or rather part of shows that had been nominated), they might not have been as relaxed as me, a judge, could be. I had done my bit watching and reviewing the programmes submitted for the Children’s 6-12 and 0-6 categories, then discussing with my fellow judges before voting. All I had to do now was enjoy the champagne and glitz.

    There was quite a lot of glitz: dinner included some Sweet Pea Emulsion which I have only seen before on a Dulux colour chart, the bits of stem broccoli that usually fall through my colander, turnips the size of snowdrop bulbs and for pudding we had a dessert. That involved yuzo: Alison Moyet, what a great voice.

    Jonathan Ross presided over the award ceremony which, despite him, seemed endless – about lots of programmes that I haven’t watched or did watch but have forgotten. But there was plenty of wine on the table and ooh, a bit of slate with some rather lovely petits fours that I was probably meant to pass round the table.

    The older kids’ award went to My Life: The Boy on the Bicycle, a CBBC documentary (directed by Stefania Buonajuti) following a lad round one of the largest refugee camps in the world. If you are one of those people that talks about ‘these people’ then you need to see this.

    The preschool award went to Topsy and Tim. An outstanding episode in an already excellent series. Written by Dave Ingham, the episode is about a pet dog dying. It is handled with such care, wit and honesty that it made me cry. I was genuinely moved by the story. I also cried because I still haven’t worked with producers Darrall Macqueen.

    I didn’t stay until ‘Carriages at Three’ but left sensibly early, determined to get a good night’s sleep so that, with a new day, inspired by these great shows, I could work harder and write better. And find out when yuzu left the music industry and moved into citrus fruit based desserts.

  • I’M IN THE HUMAN ZOO

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Animation, Screenwriting, Uncategorized

    My first radio interview will be broadcast tomorrow Tuesday 26th July, 1530hrs BBC Radio 4.  What’s the aural equivalent of ‘blink and you’ll miss it’?  Probably ‘poke your finger in your ear to scoop the wax out’.  Although if your ears are fairly clean you won’t miss it all as my bit was going to be about five minutes long.

    It came as a big surprise. That tremendous journalist, comic and role model Timandra Harkness got in touch to talk about how incongruous cinematic moments can throw us out of the film’s story world.  We’ve all groaned at plot holes and continuity errors but what about when a filmmaker does this sort of thing deliberately?  What’s going on and why? And why was the tremendous journalist, comic and role model Timandra Harkness asking me these sorts of questions?

    The Human Zoo looks at current events through the lens of psychology.  This episode is called News of An Atrocity, the Psychology of Rare Events and looks at why we are more attuned to the dangers of exceptional situations, such as acts of terrorism, than to more everyday threats such as a car crash.

    Part of the programme looks at how we use stories to make sense of the world around us. How the patterns, rhythms and themes of a constructed world help us deal with the fears and uncertainties of real life and contribute to our well being.  That was where I fitted in although I will have to listen to the programme myself to remember exactly what I said.  I know there was talk about Doctor Who, and the importance of getting the right breed of cow in your costume drama and I may even have said “Verfremdungseffekt”.  ‘m pretty sure I mentioned Gumball, Ned Stark’s death and David Lynch, although possibly not in that order.

    And we came up with the title of my forthcoming Screenwriting manual: “Bury the Wizard.”

    Thing is, I didn’t know I had a forthcoming screenwriting manual.  Another example of how life is full of plot holes.

  • AND THE WINNER IS…

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Children's Media Campaign, Children's stories, Children's TV, Education, Religion, Screenwriting, The Children's Media Foundation, Uncategorized

    Me!  I had a brilliant evening at the Sandford St Martin 2015 Awards last night.  OK so I didn’t win an award, but then I wasn’t up for one: I was a juror.   But I came away from Lambeth Palace feeling like a winner.  The evening had celebrated some of the best, most thought provoking, meaningful and, in some cases, uplifting media content of the past year: radio and TV documentaries, sit coms, murder mysteries, period dramas, bio-pics and everything in between.  Some of the programmes had flown under the mainstream radar – the winner of the children’s award for example (Fettle Animation’s ‘Children of the Holocaust’ BBC 2) had first been broadcast at 4 in the morning as a teaching aid for schools! – so there were loads of titles that I came home wanting to seek out, others that I wanted to watch again.

    The best thing though was being in the presence of some quite outstandingly wonderful people.  Award ceremonies are always full of outstanding people, we’re there to celebrate the most talented after all.  But this room was full of people who were not only talented and not only nice but really rather wonderful:  men and women who clearly care about their work beyond personal ambition.

    The winners of the Sandford Awards are can be found at http://sandfordawards.org.uk/the-awards/2015-awards/2015-award-winners/ I think you can also view the programmes there.  Definitely worth it.

    So why did I feel like a winner myself?  Because:

    • I was privileged to meet  Trude Silman and her sister who not only survived the Holocaust but went on to achieve so much despite all that had happened to them.
    • I was thrilled to meet the BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet and see the compassion she has for the people in the stories she has to cover.
    • I was delighted to be able to thank writer Peter Bowker in person for my favourite film of last year, ‘Marvellous’ and very pleased indeed to have the chance to shake the hand of the man at the heart of the story, Neil Baldwin.
    • And if you’ve seen the film you’ll understand how excited I was to see Neil get the Bishop of Leeds to sign his bible.

    But the best bit?

    The best bit, the bit I enjoyed most came right at the end when fellow juror Tim Herbert and the winners of the Children’s Award, Producer Kath Shackleton and Director Zane Whittingham of Fettle Animation and I were about to leave.  Standing in the hallowed hall, the home of the head of the Church of England, with its oak paneling and  Tudor fireplace, surrounded by oil paintings of all the Archbishops that have gone before,  surrounded by history and the host of unseen witnesses, the cry went up, “Anyone coming for a beer?”

    Like I said, I was in the presence of some quite outstandingly wonderful people.

     

  • POSH FROCKS AT THE READY – I’VE BEEN ON JURY DUTY

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Animation, Children's Media Campaign, Children's stories, Children's TV, Education, The Children's Media Foundation

    Earlier this spring, the Children’s Media Foundation was invited to take part in the jury for a new Children’s Broadcast Award.  Having recently joined the CMF’s board, I took great pleasure in this my first official duty; as if I ever need an excuse to watch lots of children’s television programmes and discuss them over lunch.

    The organisation giving the award is the Sandford St Martin Trust, an independent and non-profit organisation that seeks to promote and encourage excellence in religious programming and religious literacy amongst policy makers, journalists and individuals. To this end it has been making annual awards for the best programmes about religion, ethics and spirituality since 1978.

    This year the trust has introduced a new award for children’s content. It was championed by Sandford trustee and broadcaster Roger Bolton who, like the Children’s Media Foundation, recognizes the importance of children having quality and variety in programming made especially for them: “It is critical that children and young people are exposed to imaginative works that open their eyes to the world they share and the beliefs people hold.”

    There were ten programmes on the shortlist. Submissions were for radio, television and online broadcasts and came from a range of producers; from broadcasting behemoths such as the BBC to small religious charities and producers of teaching material. As a writer of fiction, I usually gravitate to drama but there were some brilliant documentaries too. There were some programmes, both fiction and non-fiction, that left me cold: a little too preachy and putting the ‘die’ into didactic.   But the ones that really worked, that made me think and feel and consider in new ways, had one thing in common: people, real people’s experiences at their heart. Even the fictional ones. Their testimonies needed no explanation, no editorial interpretation.   Of course there was editorial input: duh! But the programmes that worked best were constructed to let the stories, the ideas, speak for themselves.

    But how can you compare a preschool radio show with a fluffy Christmas special or a hard-hitting teen documentary? That’s where children’s programming differs from the grown up stuff: it’s so much about the audience. Programmes have to be age appropriate; giving or considering a child’s perspective, and the best did just that.

    Having watched the shortlist and decided which was the most fabulous and worthy winner of the award, I hied me to Westminster to meet with the other jury members: independent producer and children’s author Hilary Robinson, National Geographic Kids editor Tim Herbert and Senior Lecturer in Media Practice at Salford University Beth Hewitt.

    It was a fascinating process: we each brought different perspectives and expertise and there were biscuits. We were pretty unanimous in the way we shortened the shortlist but then it got …difficult as we tried to tease out the best of the best. Like the Mole in The Wind in the Willows, we “scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then we scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped” until at last – “pop!” we had a runner up and a winner.

    And the Winner is….

    To be announced this evening at Lambeth Palace….

    You expect me to tell you now? I’m off to get ready for tonight’s ceremony!

     

  • IF YOU’RE A SHREW LIVING UNDER THE COOKER AT MY HOUSE, LIFE HAS JUST BECOME MORE… CHALLENGING

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Animation, Books, Children's Poetry, Children's Theatre, Children's TV, Uncategorized

    A Warning to Little Shrews

    Winston the cat
    Is big, black and fat.
    But his mew is so cute,
    You’d never guess he’s a brute
    Who likes to kill rats
    And other tom cats.

    He curls on the chair
    With a warm sleepy stare.
    But when you think he’s at rest,
    He’s at his cruel, vicious best.
    So little shrew beware:
    Winston knows that you’re there.

    He’s watching you peep
    And feel safe and then creep
    To the fridg- Bam! goes his paw
    As he strikes with his claw
    And sinks his teeth deep
    And eats even your squeap!

    Please note: ‘Squeap’ is the sound a shrew makes as it disappears in one big gollop into a big black fat cat.  There’s no time for squealing and or squeaking – the k gets swallowed.  Trust me.