Highlights include images from the Victorian artists Cecil Aldin, who designed the cover and 18 colour plates for Black Beauty, and Balliol Salmon ‘Angela Brazil’s favourite artist’; the first cover of Puffin Post, created by the legendary editor Kaye Webb, who was born in Chiswick and lived by the river, where she stored the boat used for Puffin Club adventures; a Japanese poster for the film Miss Potter, overseen by Sally Floyer who ran Beatrix Potter’s publishing company Frederick Warne & Co, as well as Ladybird Books and BBC Books at Penguin; and original covers from Jane Nissen Books, which brought classic children’s books back into print. In the world of children’s film, television and theatre, there are panels highlighting Richard Briers, who provided the voices for Roobarb, Noddy and Fiver in Watership Down, as well as playing Rat in the National Theatre production of Wind In the Willows; Vicky Ireland, who presented Words & Pictures on BBC schools television and Jonathan Cohen, music director of Play Away and Jackanory; and ‘The Coles of South Parade, Bedford Park’ who created the cult children’s series Bod and many other BBC Children’s programmes, including Play School and Fingerbobs. The exhibition includes images from a new series of Bod, currently in development by Terrific Television.
The exhibition is based on volunteers’ research for the Chiswick Book Festival’s online
archive, the Timeline of Chiswick Writers and Books, which lists 500 people who have lived in Chiswick W4 and written a book, as well as a new Timeline of Chiswick Artists and Illustrators, which is also being launched this week as part of the Festival’s Children’s Books Day in St Michael & All Angels Church and the Tabard Theatre. “It is remarkable how influential Chiswick’s residents have been in the world of children’s books, TV and theatre – and that this story has been unrecognised till now,” says Torin Douglas, Director of the Chiswick Book Festival. “The Observer once wrote that ‘Chiswick may be Britain’s most literary location’ and we can now see that it has a fine record in works for children too.” Douglas went on: “There is a ‘golden thread’ that runs through Puffin and Penguin Books, from Kaye Webb, who persuaded dozens of top children’s authors to have their books published as Puffins; through Jane Nissen, who worked closely with Kaye and later published Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse in paperback; Sally Floyer, who oversaw the sensitive transfer of Peter Rabbit from book to screen as well as Spot and other characters; Dotti Irving, whose first job was at Puffin and went on to work with JK Rowling and run the Booker Prize; and Barry Cunningham, who worked in the Turn’em Pages bookshop in Turnham Green Terrace before joining Puffin and later, at Bloomsbury, publishing Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone, which had been turned down by numerous publishers.
“Similarly, in children’s television and theatre, Chiswick was the hub that brought together
many of those creating much-loved characters and transferring them to the stage and screen. These include current illustrators such as Lo Cole, who grew up in South Parade with his parents Michael and Joanne Cole.”
Lo Cole and several others featured in the exhibition will be speaking at the Festival’s Children’s Books Day, this Saturday 7th March in St Michael & All Angels Church and the Tabard Theatre in Bath Road, London W4, close to Turnham Green Tube station.
The Festival is partnering with local schools and libraries and three national arts organisations - Action for Children’s Arts, the Children’s Media Foundation and the Cultural Policy Unit - in a day of discussions, readings, screenings and craft activities.
Speakers at the morning sessions on ‘the Golden Age of Books & Television’ will include Janet Ellis (Blue Peter, Twice Upon A Time podcast), Vicky Ireland (Words & Pictures, Polka Theatre, Founder & Ambassador, Action for Children’s Arts), Jonathan Cohen (Play School, Jackanory), Lucy Briers, daughter of Richard Briers (Roobarb & Custard, Noddy, Watership Down, The Wind In The Willows), Alison Cole (Bod’s New Leaf, Cultural Policy Unit) and Greg Childs (Director, Children’s Media Foundation).
Broadcaster and former Blue Peter Presenter Janet Ellis, who presented BBC Radio 4’s Great Lives: Kaye Webb, will discuss her influence with Kaye’s Puffin colleague Jane Nissen, former Editorial Director of Children’s Books at Penguin, Methuen and Hamish Hamilton, who also launched her own list of out-of-print classics, and Sally Floyer, former MD of Ladybird Books and of Beatrix Potter’s Publisher Frederick Warne. The session will be chaired by Torin Douglas.
“The morning is aimed at parents, grandparents and those in the worlds of publishing, TV and theatre who look back fondly at the ‘golden age’ – and care about the future - of works for children” said Douglas. “Anyone who was a fan of Puffin Post, Blue Peter, Play School or the Polka Theatre will enjoy the morning. After lunch, we’ll open the church to families to celebrate some of today’s children’s authors and illustrators with readings, screenings and craft activities, including plenty of puffins!”
Also after lunch, in the Tabard Theatre opposite the church, ‘the Golden Age of Children’s Theatre’ will be discussed by Vicky Ireland (former Artistic Director, Polka Theatre) and David Wood (Writer, Director, Producer, ‘The National Children’s Dramatist’ - The Times, and president ACA), chaired by Janet Ellis.
The Festival is partnering with local schools and Chiswick Library in the London Borough of Hounslow for ‘Children’s Books Day’. Its children’s books liaison Jenny Griffiths, former Primary School Librarian of the Year, will take part in the discussion ‘Taking action for children’s arts in the National Year of Reading’.
Three tickets are now on sale:
- Ticket 1 - Morning session, The Golden Age of Children’s Books & Television: St Michael & All Angels Church, Bath Road, London W4, £12.
- Ticket 2 - Afternoon session for families - Meet the authors, Buy the books: St Michael & All Angels Church, Bath Road, London W4, £6.
- Ticket 3 - Afternoon session, The Golden Age of Children’s Theatre: Tabard Theatre, Bath Road, London W4, £12.
The Timeline of Chiswick Artists and Illustrators will be launched that evening at a free event from 6pm: Chiswick Artists Night in the Tabard pub in Bath Road.