Mister Magnolia: Celebrate Quentin Blake’s 90th Birthday

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I do wonder if a story like this would be published today. When Quentin Blake was creating Mister Magnolia at the end of the 1970s, there were still plenty of men in primary school teaching. The 1980s saw a rapid and permanent exodus of men from teaching as parents became more aware of sex abuse crimes against children. Suddenly, what had earlier been hidden, precisely because it was unthinkable to non-pedophiles, became a fleshed-out fear in the minds of parents, and book-buyers everywhere. I love the illustrations of Quentin Blake and this book is one of his finest. The rhyming is done cleverly and with repetition, which is fantastic when it comes to little children. However, story wise it leaves a little to be desired. We pretty much learn that he does a lot of fun things without a boot. And he's still 'poor' because of it. Then when he finally gets the boot, he goes to bed? Mr Magnolia’s owls are learning to hoot. Think about the sounds that different animals make. Why do they make different sounds?

Quentin Blake was born in 1932 and read English at Cambridge, before attending Chelsea Art College. He has won many major prizes for illustration, including the Kate Greenaway Medal (1980) and the Red House Children's Book Award (1981) for Mister Magnolia. He is also the winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration and in 1990 was voted 'The Illustrator's Illustrator' by Observer Magazine. A tireless promoter of children's literature – and a long-time collaborator with roald Dahl – Quentin Blake was awarded the OBE in 1988 and in 2005 he was awarded a CBE for services to Children's Literature. In the most recent New Year’s Honours list he has been knighted. Count the animals that can be found in the story. Can you sort them into different groups using Venn and Carroll diagrams?After hearing the story a few times, children will get to know it quite well. Encourage them tell it to you in their own words, with some words or phrases from the story, using the pictures to help them. Watch the Story He has an old trumpet that goes rooty- toot.And two lovely sisters who play on the flute.But Mr. Magnolia has only one boot. Quentin was the inaugural Children's Laureate (1999-2001), an experience he recorded in his book Laureate's Progress. During his time in the role, he celebrated children's books and children's book illustration with a range of projects and exhibitions, and conceived the idea for the House of Illustration, the world's first centre dedicated to the art of illustration in all its forms. What sort of man plays with other people’s children in the park? I personally rail against the idea that men playing with kids in children’s books should be avoided to spare those particular feelings of discomfort in adult gatekeepers. Men need to be more involved in childcare before equality is achieved, and if kids themselves grow up thinking that men are not the natural playmates of kids, that’s a problem for the next generation of fathers, step-fathers, uncles and male teachers. Fun builds! Find out about the author / illustrator, Quentin Blake. What other illustrations has he drawn? Can you try to create a picture in a similar style / using similar techniques? Watch these videos for some ideas:

Using pens or paint and paper, children can make a picture of a favourite part of the story, show their picture to someone else and talk about it. Find the rhyme Mister Magnolia has many things, such as an old trumpet that goes rooty-toot, some fat owls, who are learning to hoot, a big purple dinosaur, who’s a magnificent brute, two sisters who play on the flute, and even a swimming pool with a chute! See if you can make up a new story about Mr Magnolia together. Perhaps beginning ‘ Mr Magnolia had only one shoe….’You can play with the rhyme, taking it in turns to invent a new line. This is a story about a man with only one boot. He's got a lot of friends and one day when this little girl came around he found a blue boot. I enjoyed this book because i like rhyming stories and it was quite a funny story. Octagon Lunchtime Tappers Octagon Lunchtime Tappers & THUMKA: Bollywood Dance Octagon Lunchtime Tappers & THUMKA: Bollywood Dance & Plus1 more... Octagon Lunchtime Tappers & THUMKA: Bollywood Dance & Plus1 more... & Plus2 more...Carnivalesque stories look a bit different when the star is a child hero. Below I go into how a carnivalesque story works when the main character is an adult. An Every Child is at home Blake was educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. His English teacher, JH Walsh, influenced his ambition to become involved in literature. His first published drawing was for the satirical magazine Punch, at the age of 16. He read English Literature at Downing College, Cambridge (1953-6), received his postgraduate teaching diploma from the University of London, and later studied at the Chelsea School of Art. He gained another teaching diploma at the Institute of Education before working at the Royal College of Art. Children have most likely seen a homeless person in the streets before, and this book can help them to realise that even though homeless people have nothing for themselves, they are still human and have feelings even though some precautions should be taken. It would be worthwhile talking to children about being grateful for what we have because we could lose it all one day.

Mr Magnolia has many things, such as an old trumpet that goes rooty-toot, some very fat owls learning to hoot, a big purple dinosaur who's a magnificent brute, two sisters who play the flute, and even a swimming pool. But, he still only has one boot. Then one day a mysterious parcel arrives... I love reading this book with my children for the simplicity of the story - he is a happy person doing things with his friends, such as playing the trumpet and taking his friends out for a scoot. The illustrations really bring the book to life. We spend just as long reading the book as looking at the detail in the pictures, for example the expression on the face of the woman in 'Just look at the way he juggles with fruit!' Avoiding the climactic joke, the romp in this book ends with a girl gifting Mister Magnolia a boot. Quentin Blake slows down the pace and builds up suspense as Mister Magnolia slowly opens his gift. (That’s why we wrap gifts in the first place, right? Suspense!)Can you plan an investigation to find the best surface for scooting / sliding on? Which one has the most / least friction?