The Gruffalo

The Gruffalo and the Gruffalo’s child are two books that I have read this week which I have sought a lot of inspiration from.

The two of the books begin with the theme of fear. The little mouse in the Gruffalo smartly avoids getting eaten by different animals by talking of a large monster which he is meeting for lunch, and the other animals scatter quickly. The mouse cunningly uses his confidence to stay out of harms way. It is not until towards the end of the story that this mouse realises that this imaginary creature is actually true!

I liked that the actual storyline written by Julia Donaldson was not a very simple story to read and is targeted at children ages 3-5. This gave me a bit more confidence in my story as I am targeting a similar age group, and the reading standard would also be similar.

Again, both the Gruffalo and the Gruffalos child were both illustrated by Alex Scheffler. It’s a funny, brightly and coloured book.

Stick Man

This was one of the first books that I have read by Julia Donaldson. I love how she has taken an everyday object of a stick and gave it an identity. The stick has been taken away from his loved ones through various different events that bring him far away from home. These events include getting thrown to a dog, forming part of a birds nest, becoming a flag mast on the top of a sand tower and many more.

The story ends with the stickman being brought home by Santa Claus, who finds him in the chimney. This story really appealed to me, especially considering the time of year coming up to Christmas!

I feel that the story would have the ability to captivate children’s imaginations from the very beginning as this is an object children play with in the park and all of a sudden it has a life of its own. Some inspiration that I took was the fact that some of the concepts in the story would need some explanation which would need to be explained to them by an parent or teacher. This only encourages imagination.

Axel Scheffler is the illustrator of Stick Man and who has worked on many of Julia Donaldson’s stories. His illustrations really bring the story to life in the details!

Julia Donaldson

I was advised last week during my meeting to look at Julia Donaldson books for inspiration. She has a very interesting history of singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television, before becoming an author of children’s books in 1993, when one of her songs, “A Squash and a Squeeze” was made into a book.

I was surprised to see that she has written 193 books. (92 of them can be bought in shops, and the other 101 are for schools.)

I have read a selected of her books this week that I could get my hands on online and in the library that I have written separate blog posts on. I have gathered a lot of inspiration from them.

 

Ratatouille

Pixar released “Ratatouille” released in 2007. It is a lovely tale about a rat who becomes a gourmet chef in a restaurant in the lovely city of Paris, despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. He learns the truth about friendship, family and having no choice but to be who he really is, a rat who wants to be a chef. I felt the need to discuss this film as I really felt it represented some form of self-esteem in the viewer. The main theme which I got from it was the idea that your background doesn’t determine your potential in life. Ideally speaking – meaning you can do anything in life! Talent is something that should be celebrated in life, this idea is portrayed vividly throughout the course of this beautifully animated film.

The Incredibles

The Incredibles main theme, in my opinion, is that we should all value the talents that we have been given, rather than hide them from the world. This is represented through a family of superheroes, who have been forced into hiding because of lawsuits and other reasons. A wicked plot to create a world where everyone has powers and no one is special eventually gives the whole family an opportunity to use their gifts for the greater good. It shows children and adults alike that everyone is unique and talented in their own way, and these talents should be shown to the world and not kept in hiding.

Another aspect I analysed in The Incredibles was character of Violet. For me she represented that fitting in can often be overrated. Violet went to school and hid behind her hair and invisibility powers because society made her believe her gifts were curses. This, for me, really portrays the pressures in society in which people feel today. Violet then came out of herself when her family needed saving and as soon as she started accepting who she was, everything started improving for her.

To conclude, this is a very inspiring film by Pixar, which instills a solid value in children and adults.

Pixar Animation Studios

Pixar have spent 25 years creating excellent films using innovative computer animation while telling beautiful stories with underlying messages at the same time. The computer animation film studio has bagged itself twenty-six well earned Academy Awards, along with seven Golden Gloves, three Grammies and many other acknowledgements throughout the years.

Steve Jobs bought Pixar in 1986 and it was then bought by Walt Disney in 2006, making Jobs the largest shareholder in Disney – Fun Fact!

Pixar has released 15 feature length films altogether as of June 2015. It’s first being an all time favourite of mine – Toy Story, in 1995 up to Inside Out in 2015. All of these films act as a major source of not only graphical influence but as a storytelling influence also!

Over the next couple of blog posts, I have included write ups I have done on several Pixar films of which I found ran somewhat alongside the theme of self-esteem and self-confidence, reflecting on some of my all-time favourite childhood films!

Animated sequence

I came across “Bright and Confident kids” recently, which is an educational program for children done through animation that increases self esteem and confidence in children in order for them to grow and blossom in all areas of their life. They have some wonderful stories and lessons as well as excellent characters that children can relate to.

Link to site: http://brightconfidentkids.com/

The Manadoob Programme

During my research, I discovered the Manadoob Program for Self-Esteem which touches all children around the world for example those in America, a school in India, from France to Greece to an orphanage in Africa it highlights that children face the same fears and each and every child deserves the chance to be joyful and strong. Manadoob is for all children, everywhere! It encourages children to believe in yourself, express yourself, overcome your fears, connect to yourself, connect to others and overcome your fears. It has become an internationally acclaimed self-esteem program for successful childhood development.

It is considered in a lot of places an essential educational tool helping children to face the challenges in the world today, and empowering them to do the right thing. The Manadoob Program for Self-Esteem teaches children self-esteem while bettering their reading and writing skills using of story and individualised interpretation. The characters are both human and animal and teach the value of inclusion as well as instilling a sense of belonging in children. The Manadoob allow kids to think outside the box – to open their minds.

Taken from the website I quote “Welcome to our sweet, old town called Sierra Pine. We were all just going about our lives until the Manadoob came to town and forever changed the world as we know it. Join Wella, Zack and Pete in a story of mystery and adventure as the Manadoob find creative and exciting ways to give children the skills they need to cope with the challenges in today’s sometimes difficult world.”

It is nice to know that there are various different programmes like this out there, which shows that there is progress in this particular field.

Website URL : http://www.manadoob.com/

Adams Cloud

Adam’s Cloud, a children’s book publishing company, was set up in 2008 by Benji Bennett in memory of his 4-year-old son Adam who passed away in August 2007 from a brain tumour.

They published the book called ‘Before you Sleep’ which was Adams father Benji’s first book to promote a special message of love in the family and to try and encourage parents to spend more time expressing their love to their children by reading to them at bedtime and saying “I love you” before they go to sleep. The book has amazing illustrations which i found to be very influential.

This book company really touched my heart, Adams parents are an inspiration to all. What I really liked about it was they have a very interesting website which runs alongside the books. Benji has a blog on the website which is full of various different things such as interviews with him on different talk shows, blogs on fun and exciting things to do with your children and it is updated very regularly. They also have different bereavement packages made available to those suffering from the loss of a child.

What I loved about this is that they took a terrible situation and made something good. They not only write and illustrate books but they have various different aspects running alongside it. It is a marvellous company.

I have attached a link to the website below:

http://adamscloud.com/

Live Happy Now

Live Happy

Another app that I discovered is one that is designed for iPhone and iPad. Its based on previous research done by a psychology teacher called Sonja Lyubomirsky. The app isn’t exactly designed for children, but I still thought it was necessary to write about as it would be very beneficial to children if they were guided by a primary school teacher while using it. Teachers would have the opportunity to build in daily activities to help the children boost their happiness and form positive habits.

The app includes different items, information and videos that are very educational to children. Its designed for them to gain a better understanding of happiness and resilience and has various different features that makes the child engage in happiness-promoting activities.  It then tells you why and how the particular activity promotes happiness.

The apps methods are backed up by Sonjas solid research and is really fun and easy to use. It has a free trial version.

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