Charlie and Lola
Almost exactly a year ago my daughter and I, quite by accident, discovered a series of the most imaginative, colourful and engaging children's stories I have ever come across. Titles such as 'I am too absolutely small for school', 'I will never not ever eat a tomato' and 'I am not sleepy and I will not go to bed' will not fail to disappoint children and adult alike. Aimed at 3-7 year olds Lauren Child's Charlie and Lola series is the perfect example of good children's storytelling mixing the everyday childhood experiences with the creative colours of a child's imagination. Narrated through the very sensible and grown up voice of 7yr old Charlie, the stories are packed to the brim with so much effortless humour that my daughter - who is a bit like Lola - goes to bed laughing. And that kind of laughter is wonderfully infectious. Lola, unlike her brother, already at the age of four possesses a masterful command of comedy and comic timing that many tired old stand-ups could learn from.
The illustrations really set these books apart from the standard children's book range. Child mixes photography with simple line sketches and collage effects with great results that really challenge children's visual and sensual perceptions of the world around them.
I am told that Charlie and Lola are on the CBeebies channel and that they are accurate representations of the book. I have yet to see them not having digital, but we have caught clips on the Charlie and Lola official website and played the Cloudhopping game on the CBeebies website and are desperately tracking down the 'I've won, No I've won, No I've Won' book and game set. If you have not yet discovered this entertaining duo I hope you and/your children will have many hours of simple laughter ahead of you.
posted by Beth Bond @ 4/25/2006 11:53:00 AM
8 Comments:
Thanks for the great tip. As an unchild-friendly Aunt, it is useful to have one up on my sister when it comes to buying my niece birthday presents!
Lauren Child is not only a fabulous story-teller but her illustrations are a style of their own. At the beginning of my publishing career, she was doing some books/illustrating with Frances Lincoln in London, where I worked at the time so you might want to look out for them also - i think the one she was working on at the time was 'I want a pet', though I see on Amazon she has done books with several children's publishers. I bought the Charlie and Lola books for my younger brother with special needs and he loves them too. Although I have to say i also really like the Dr Zeuss books myself (and so does he - the cat in the hat is his current favourite)!!!
I didn't care for the Child style when I was bookselling years ago, but now that I have a couple of the target audience at home, I can recommend That Pesky Rat at least. The C&L animations on telly seem all right too, though the context there would make anything half decent stand out.
Are you still posting? No updates for a long while...
Regards,
Philip Pankov
Black and White Photographs of Ireland
Irish men sign on to the "good 'ole boy's club" paternalistic type of mentality, an archaic dumping ground now designated for the grossly disfavored. It is celebrated in the pubs (a la "peer pressure") and it is used to compel them to feel superior to their women when just the opposite is true.
Up until the past four decades it was the men who filled the prisons, the men who made trouble, the men who caused problems. This is a sign women have the favor of the gods, are the decent and respectable among us. The first step is for the men to be aware of the difference and understand its implications:::females are better people and will get more time because of it.
I recommend you stop engaging in this male-dominated behavior, for these activities exist to hurt the disfavored gender which is why they are targetted towards the men.
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Thanks! Slán!
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