Tag: children

Children’s TV from 1946 Exhibition at Derby Museums

Posted on by Maymunah Azad

Hey guys! Maymunah here! ?

I thought I’d go a little bit off topic this week and talk about a new exhibition that I’m super looking forward to at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, where I went on Work Experience last week.

Starting from the 15th October, there will be an exhibition on Children’s TV from 1946. It will explore how TV has changed the way children grow up and experience the world. They’ll be having a whole host of different props from TV shows, like Muffin the Mule, Morph, and a lot more other programmes that an older audience might remember. Personally I’m a bit rusty on them seeing as they were well before my time!

For a younger audience (including me!) are the Tweenies (think multi coloured faces), Brum, the little yellow car with eyes for headlights, Rastamouse and the vegetables from Mr Bloom’s Nursery. Granted, I was about ten when the latter was released so it wasn’t something that made up a huge part of my childhood…

It’s kinda crazy because I think the most nostalgic part of this all is the fact that the exhibitions are the originals from the TV shows. I never thought I’d ever see anything like that! Its so cool that it appeals to nearly every generation so even adults can enjoy this without feeling like “Oh my gosh, why am I here at a kids’ exhibition” kind of thing, which is ultimately what museums are about.

The aim of this exhibition is to try and explore how TV has shaped children as they grow up. The first thing you see as a child is TV! Children are introduced to cartoons to understand social life before they actually get out there in the real world (which is pretty ironic consider you’re learning how to be social without mixing with people). I’m also really hoping that the exhibition will be prompting a lot of discussion between different generations too, so that we all learn about childhoods from different perspectives!Children's TV from 1946 Derby Museums

What do you think about the Children’s TV exhibition? Do you think you’ll be able to come down and see it? Leave a comment below!

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Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo

Posted on by Maymunah Azad

Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo

Hey everyone! Maymunah here! ?

I really hope you guys enjoyed the last week’s review on The BFG. I thought this week I’d talk about a book for slightly older children.

This book is Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo. I’m sure a lot of you will have heard of him. Michael Morpurgo is a very popular British author who has written a lot of children’s books, including The Butterfly Lion, Kensuke’s Kingdom, The Elephant in the Garden, War Horse and so many more. Those were just the ones I could remember off the top of my head!

Running Wild is genuinely a very beautiful book that I read a couple of years ago. I loved it so much I still talk about it now!

The story is about a young boy whose father had recently been lost in war. As a result, his mother decided to take him on a holiday to Indonesia, the country where she was from originally. As she treats him to an elephant ride while she goes for a swim, the sea is dragged back into a tsunami. The elephant, sensing something is wrong, takes off with the boy into the jungle. Over the next few – years? There isn’t a specified time period – the boy learns some very valuable lessons on survival, conservation and his own identity as a human. He also develops some very special relationships with a tiger, orangutans and his elephant.

The main plot line is based on the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the tragic event that claimed lives across the whole of South Asia. That singular event is etched into the minds of many as the day that their whole lives were turned upside down; even today, some people have still not recovered from the catastrophic events of almost 12 years ago.

The book is incredibly emotional and does deal with difficult issues such as bereavement, growing up, family, greed and in one rather upsetting place, murder. I don’t want to give too much away, but the boy does lose someone very special and close to him and that affects and moves him very deeply. Admittedly, I did cry myself at this point.

Okay, so summing this all up, I’d recommend it to children aged about 9+. I think at that age, they will be old enough to understand a lot of the issues explored and discussed in this book. The lessons to be learnt in this book are very valuable and this is why I believe that Michael Morpurgo is a perfect author to introduce children to as they approach their “tweens” so to speak as his stories deal with very real issues that happen in anyone’s life.

Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo book cover

You can find out more about Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo and get a copy on Amazon.

If you have read Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo please leave a comment below with what you think about the book.

I hope you guys enjoy this post. Next week, I’ll be talking about another book that children are sure to love! See you all then!

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