"CHANGES"

The beginning of an idea...

And came across: Radical Storytime

Radical Storytime is a great little Tumblr site by an...

"aspiring youth services librarian with a heart for revolution"

Her featured letter last week was 'Z' and the kids read books about zoos. Zoos, the author says, are not places that make her feel very happy - but nevertheless, they provide an excellent way for young children to learn about animals. And A Possum's Tail was one of the books she read.

The zoo in A Possum's Tail is not a sad place - Alex's illustrations are too joyful, inclusive and lively. And the story is too 'wild' and silly and fantastical (although I still feel that the possums and Samuel Drew should have flown to the moon...ahh, but that's another 'tail'...)

But this is what we like to see: books being read, discussed and USED.

Thank you Stephanie!

x

@stefmolinaro

#RadicalStorytime

Child and Cat drawings

Child and cat 1

Child and cat 2

Child and cat 3

Trying to decide which works best; I like the face in left version, but I like the wash in the second. The third is possibly the most solid landscape. 

All are an 'homage' to the wonderful, inspirational teaching of the very beautiful and extraordinarily talented Emily Haworth-Booth. I attended Emily's amazing course on graphic novel drawing last week, in the heat and dust of the hottest week of the year/decade/millennium (?!) in an attempt to clarify and develop both my drawing and writing. We learnt so much in five days - and so much more to learn. It did confirm the Herculean task that lies ahead if I am ever, ever going to turn 'Pictures & Leaves' into a graphic novel.

What I do need to do is draw draw draw much more in the meantime...

#EmilyHaworthBooth
#RoyalDrawingSchool

ps oh the excitement of working with dip pens on the smooooothest Bristol paper. So exciting in fact, that I was afraid to do it. But I did.

FISH and ME illustrated by Rachel Ortas

Water issue of OKIDO

Thanks for the re-gram buttercupwhitstable

So beautiful, Rachel - thank you for bringing my words to life!

#RachelOrtas

#Okidomagazine

#poems

#illustration

Plus ECO KIDS PLANET free educational resources & activities...

Visit ECO KIDS now to download.

Summer Holidays Activities - sorted!

#EcoKidsPlanet

#greatwhiteshark

#oceans

OKIDO 42 THE WATER ISSUE...

Just in time for the summer!

Okido issue 42

#okido

#okidomagazine

MORE MESSY MERCH...

Oh hey, you can now buy my Messy Goes to Okido Lost Balloon episode on DVD!

Click HERE!

And these little beauties: "Made in soft furry fabrics and includes embroidered facial features"
as well as Adam Buxton's brilliant voice!

SMALL Messy...

 Available to pre-order HERE!

...and LARGE Messy!

The good news is that BOTH plush Messy toys TALK and come with 'batteries included'!

#MessyGoestoOkido
#Okidomagazine
#Okido
#Doodleproductions
#CBeebies

Alex's bEaUtiful: 'DON'T LET GO!' cartoon features in Saatchi Gallery magazine...

And boy, have there been tears...

One can only hope that out of this (Eton) mess some good will come.

Perhaps a huge shake-up was necessary because things were so much worse than we, in our London bubble of liberal, middle-class righteousness (or should that be 'lefteousness'?) and fabulously, truly, multicultural mix, had ever imagined.

#SamuelDrewhaslosthisballoon

#Saatchigallery

#AlexBarrowillustration

#Brexit

#regrexit

#ffs

See the selection of other cartoons here: Saatchi Gallery magazine

stabberjocky by Steve Pottinger 2016

And had to post this, too; it's totally fab...

Getafix tells it like it is in Brockwell Park Mac Gilchrist

stabberjocky

(with apologies to Lewis Carroll)

‘Twas Brexit, and the slithy Gove
did frottercrutch in dwarfish glee;
he snicker-snacked the Camerove,
Machiavelliadastardly.

Beware the stabberjock, my son!
The empty eyes, the robo-glint!
who fellobrates the Murdocrone
the Ruperturtle übergimp!

He pallerised the BoJo cloon
they chummed upon their sunderbus
emblazoned it with fibberoons
and bambulluntruthoozled us.

The tousled toddler slaughterchopped,
his destiplans an Eton mess,
the slubbergubby gollumgove
a shadowhand of viciousness.

O gipperchund! And vomberblast!
The skitterchit of slick and sly
the snicker-snack of backstablades
the scrabblage to ruthlerise.

The bubberchut of charismissed
the turdletruck of banalbore
is patterfrondled on the head
a pawn upon a checkerboard.

Beware the stabberjock, my son!
The empty eyes, the robo-glint
who fellobrates the Murdocrone
the Ruperturtle übergimp.

© Steve Pottinger 3 July 2016

#Brexit

#Steve Pottinger

#poetry

#ediblebusstop

#Brixton

A ROLLERCOASTER RIDE AROUND THE BODY

I've been quiet for a while - somewhat overwhelmed by the rollercoaster of both national and much closer to home events.

On the rollercoaster theme, here's something rather nice for a change...should be fun!

ALREADY ON AMAZON ready to pre-order!

For What Binds Us

A dear friend sent me this the other day. I read through it and thought it very beautiful. But I've read it again several times and it's much more than beautiful - it's powerful and relevant and seems to resonate strongly with our collective state of mind at the moment. 

It's true that nothing is certain but change, so perhaps these moves and shifts that are coming thick and fast are inevitable. However, it doesn't mean we must get swept along by them; inevitability does not equal impotence. We are the makers of our own destinies and whatever is happening around us and to us, we are still lucky enough to live in a country where it should be possible to do something about it. For now. And now we must act to preserve that right.

Jane Hirshfield

#poetry
#brexit