Archives for September 2012

Exciting times at CBeebies - on Monday 1st October at 4.00 we welcome a brand new show, Get Well Soon, onto our screens. Controller of CBeebies, Kay Benbow, dropped in to tell us all about it herself, then we managed to grab the star of the show, Dr Ranj (in between ward rounds!) and ask him a few questions. Here's Kay to tell you more:

One of the best things about being the Controller of CBeebies is when someone presents me with an idea and I think, ‘Yes!’ That is exactly what CBeebies needs. That’s how it was with Get Well Soon.



When Dr Ranj first came to talk about Get Well Soon he gave a great presentation - complete with puppet! I instantly felt he was someone who really understood how to put children and parents at ease when discussing challenging, embarrassing and sometimes scary issues.

Being a parent, the idea really struck a chord with me. I kept thinking if only I had had access to a programme like that when my two sons were little, it would have alleviated a lot of the worry and anxiety I faced as an inexperienced parent trying to explain things properly and without scaring them.

I really hope Get Well Soon will be the equivalent of a child health book on TV and online.



I’m really proud of the way we’ve managed to make Get Well Soon fun and engaging, and informative.

We’ve tackled some potentially tricky subjects but they’re all approached sensitively, with a good dose of humour and some great songs! I think a lot of that is down to Dr Ranj - together with Nurse Morag and her Healthy Helpers. Dr Ranj does a great job of explaining things honestly and with empathy, as well as singing and interacting with our youngest audience brilliantly.

So without further ado, I’d like to hand you over to CBeebies’ doctor in the house - Dr Ranj!

Hello Dr Ranj! Are you a real doctor?



Yes! Actually, a lot of people seem to be asking me that at the moment!

I've been a practising NHS doctor since 2003 - that's almost 10 years! I've worked

in a variety of different hospitals in lots of specialties. I look after everyone from

extremely premature babies to young adults with complex disabilities - it's busy but

I love every minute!



Tell us about Get Well Soon, what's it all about?



'Get Well Soon' is a unique pre-school show based on children's experiences of

going to the doctor. Its aim is to educate as well as entertain, and allow kids to

learn about their bodies in health and sickness. The show is based in a surgery

that is run by myself (Dr. Ranj) and Nurse Morag – my lovely and knowledgeable

counterpart.

Through the eyes of five loveable puppet characters (Deep, Kiwa, Riz, Jobi and

Petal) that come in to visit the doctor, we get a chance to see the medical world as a

safe and stimulating environment full of music, laughter and games.



What kind of conditions do you cover in the series?

The series explores a range of common childhood complaints which make it

relevant to lots of people. Everything from hiccups to hand, foot and mouth

disease, verrucas to vaccination, and constipation to conjunctivitis - it all gets the

'Get Well Soon' treatment! We even deal with conditions like asthma and diabetes

in a positive and empowering way - something that is pioneering in pre-school TV

and I am extremely proud of.



How did you manage to make being ill a fun subject?



It’s all about how you present the information – ‘illness’ doesn’t always have to be

awful and is something we all go through. Fortunately many childhood illnesses

are not serious, but they can still be frightening for children and their parents. Even

long term conditions can be made less scary by putting it all into the right

perspective.



How did being a TV doctor compare to being a real doctor?



It's a completely different world, but I'm glad I got to use my 'day job' to do

something really wacky and fun. In fact, I don't think I have ever had so much fun at

'work'!

Working in TV means I get to meet some really cool people who have done

amazing things. Working with the crew and puppets (and the immensely talented

puppeteers) on 'Get Well Soon' is something that I will always cherish.



Do you have a favourite episode? Any funny moments during filming?



Hmmm, now that's a tough question! I'm really pleased with the whole series but I am especially proud of the fact that

we have dealt with conditions like diabetes in such a positive way because the

reality of it can seem so different for someone who has it. No-one has had the guts

to do this with a pre-school audience before and I hope that someone out there will

find it useful in real life.



Making the show was a laugh-a-minute affair - my face literally hurt at the end of

every day! One of the funniest times was when all the puppets got together to film

the introductions and messages. I recommend you look out for those…



Can you put your real doctor's hat on again for a moment - what is the best advice

you could give parents to help their kids stay healthy?



The one thing that I would tell everyone is get your kids interested in learning about

their bodies from an early age. Use every tool to get them engaged and excited -

books, computers, activities and games. Only then will they really understand how

'being healthy' is relevant to them and it will make it fun rather than a chore.

And lead by example - your kids will follow what you do and do as you say, so make sure you're looking after yourself too!

Hayden finds out what it was like to be a miner in a pit in Wales, with his Grandpa, Bryn.

On Monday 24th September a very special new show is coming to CBeebies. 'My Story', made by our CBeebies team in Scotland, is very different from anything we've done before. 

We'd been thinking for a while about how we could do a show that brought history to life for the CBeebies audience - no easy feat when, as we discovered, most young children can't compute the idea of the world existing before they did!



In each episode, children uncover family stories with the help of an older relative or friend. Whether it’s discovering where Mummy grew up, or more about where Grandpa used to work, the children find out things they didn’t know about some of the people they know best, finding out about the past in a fun way that’s relevant to them.



For My Story online, we wanted to create a resource for families to be able to explore and tell their own story together. Before we did anything, we talked to lots of parents, carers and children from as many different types of family groups as possible to find out exactly what kids knew and felt about history.



One consistent theme with all the families was that the children loved looking through photos and talking about stories about their families.



We decided to take this as our starting point and began thinking about creating a special scrapbook that would be a home for the photos and stories that the children collected on their journey.



The families we spoke to really liked the idea of the scrapbook, some of them also said they'd attempted to use family tree type activity books with their children but had found that they didn't accommodate anything but a 2.4 children family model, never mind accommodating the unconventional ideas children had about who and what made up their families (things like pets, favourite toys and imaginary friends).

Parents also told us they wanted something that was flexible in terms of the time needed to complete the activities.

We realised that any scrapbook we gave people to make would need to be as flexible and open-ended as possible, and really allow families and children to put themselves into the story. The My Story book has lots of pages for kids to draw themselves and their family, and has an option to upload photographs- something that all parents thought was a good idea, and that parents of SEN children said was essential.



Research also shows that using pictures and scrapbooks in this way can be a really useful way to help your children find out and express their feelings about everything from their first day at school to the loss of a loved one.



While our families felt there were resources around for the everyday issues like going to the dentist, there was a real lack when it came to the big stuff, like bereavement and family separation, so we wanted to accommodate that too. We'll be talking in more detail about using the book to help children talk about these kinds of issues on facebook, twitter and the CBeebies Grown-ups site in the coming weeks. 



There was one final request from the parents- have lots of print-outs so that children can make books away from the computer. 

My Story starts on 4.30 on Monday 24th September on CBeebies.

You and your child can make their own 'My Story Book' online here.

Or print it out and make one to keep from here.

We hope you and your child enjoy My Story, do get in touch and let us know what you think about it...

From inspired picture-book creator Polly Dunbar comes a colourful and charming series following the escapades of Tilly and her friends. Starting on CBeebies on Monday 17th September.

How did you get started writing books for children?

I loved children's books when I was little and I continued to love them as I grew up, there is no need to ever grow out of books with pictures. I used to make books for my toys to read, stapling them together and drawing tiny pictures - things haven't changed that much since then.



You write and also illustrate your books?

I studied illustration at University. I was very lucky, a lady from Walker Books came to my degree show and invited me to present my portfolio. I started off by illustrating other people's stories and various poetry books; this was a great way to cut my teeth.

How did you set about writing your first book?

I soon realised that I wanted to make my own books. I started mapping out stories with pictures alone and then the words came, that's how I started writing. There's something very exciting about making a complete children's book, it's getting the balance between the words and the pictures, often a whole a page of writing can be replaced with a drawing of the character, the body language can say it all.

Do the pictures have to work harder?

I find it fascinating that children can read expression and emotion way before they can read words; they can follow what's happening in my books by just looking at the pictures

What was your favourite book when you were little?

One of my favourite books was Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake. There is something about the quality of his line drawing; it leaps directly off the page as though it's actually alive. I used to pour over his pictures for hours on end. That freshness of line is very hard to create, as an adult you get so caught up in the way things should look and the spontaneity can easily be lost.

So spontaneity is important?

There’s something magic about the way that children draw, their pictures have a certain energy that is so hard to keep hold off, I often prefer to look at art up on a primary school wall than to go to a swanky gallery. In the Tilly and Friends animation the fantasy sequences are drawn in a child-like way, I wanted it to be as though the characters had walked into their own pictures, their own imaginations.

Were you a big reader as a child?

I found reading difficult as a child, my spelling was terrible (it still is) and I used to get my letters back to front. Although I struggled with reading I still loved books, the pictures would tempt me in and I would persevere with the story, if I couldn't understand all of the story I would make bits up. I was lucky to get a lot of encouragement, even though I didn't have a very good grip on how words are spelt, it didn't mean I couldn't tell a good story.

And this is reflected a little in Tilly and Friends?

The character Tilly loves books; I started the very first story with a picture of Tilly reading. I wanted it to be almost as though the characters and adventure had all leapt out of the pages. In the animation Tilly is often quietly reading while her friends are busy playing, books are like little doorways into new adventures. The Tilly household had a very large and colourful bookshelf!

How did you come up with the idea for Tilly and Friends?



I came up with the idea for Tilly and Friends years ago when I was house sharing in London. There were a lot of us living in what should have been a two bedroom flat. It was a chaotic and hilarious time in my life; all of us trying to muddle along together meant a lot of laughing but also tears. I wanted to capture this in the Tilly series, putting different animals characters in a house inspired some very funny scenarios, I didn't want to hit readers with a great big moral ending, but I do think the stories show how it's possible to get along together, even on those days when you're feeling a little bit 'bitey'.

How did it end up as a TV series?

Walker Books, who publish the Tilly book series teamed up with JAM MEDIA, a Dublin based animation studio. Together we made a pilot with music written by my friend Tom Gray. It was so exciting to see my characters walking, talking, singing and even dancing!

Where you worried about how it would work on TV?

It's a dream to have my work come to life and be aired on Cbeebies. It has been a long journey to go from book to screen, although there was a small amount of letting go to do, I got to work with some very clever people who have been so generous with their talents. I feel the animation has absolutely caught the essence of the books and I think that's quite a tricky thing to do.

Can you tell us a bit about Tilly?

There needed to be a little girl in the house, Tilly. I wanted her to be a nurturing figure but without being maternal or bossy, she too is a child discovering things along with the other characters, it was important to me that she doesn't have an answer for everything. When I was a child I loved looking after my toys, I suppose I have tried to emulate this in Tilly.



What about the other characters?

There is Tiptoe the rabbit who communicates through magic twinkles; he is the enigmatic character who always seems to know what to do. I wanted him to be silent, almost like a child who doesn't speak yet, but seems all-knowing.

There is Pru the very pretty chicken, she is always being fabulous. Pru is great fun to send up. Doodle is a tom-boyish crocodile, she adds a bit of bite to the household, I wanted her to be female for the same reason Hector the little boy pig loves to wear pink. Tumpty for me is probably the most loveable, he's so bumbling and yet well meaning. As a team they all look out for each other but they all ultimately turn to Tilly for love and support.

Do you have any tips for parents who have little budding artists at home?

I would say it's never too early to start making your own books. Perhaps make a little library for toys to read, simply by cutting and folding paper. You can perhaps make long thin books for giraffes to read or a very small book that would be perfect for a mouse. I think little hands are good for making little pictures. Then maybe graduate to an elephant size book, Tumpty would like that very much.