Return to Japan

Recently the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra went on a very special tour to Japan. Two years ago, during an earlier tour, they were travelling across a suspension bridge in Tokyo when a huge earthquake struck 70 km off the northeast coast of the country. The bridge began bucking and weaving, lamp posts were waving like daffodils and the musicians’ tour bus felt as though it would plummet 1,000 feet into Yokohama Bay.

Yokohama Bridge photo ©Makokin

Luckily, Japanese structures are built to withstand frequent earthquakes, so the bridge held and the musicians were able to reach Tokyo. Soon after, an enormous tsunami hit the northeast of the country and washed away many thousands of buildings, killing over 15,000 people.

Given the enormity of this disaster, the BBC orchestra had no choice but to end their concert tour and return home, but many felt guilty, as though they were abandoning the Japanese to their fate. The organisers agreed that as soon as it was practical, the orchestra would return to Japan to repeat the tour and play the unfinished concerts.

In the spring of 2013, almost exactly two years after the disaster, the orchestra returned to Japan to sellout audiences in Niigata, Osaka, Tokyo and six other cities. Going back was frightening for the musicians as they had to travel around the country in coaches, just as they had during the previous tour. But despite their fears, the orchestra felt strongly that they wanted to give something back to the people of Japan who were so welcoming, and to pay tribute to all those who had lost their lives.

The guest solo artist, 24-year-old pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, took part in this tour as he had two years before. Among other pieces, he played the Tchaikovsky symphony shown in this video from 2010. Nobuyuki is remarkably talented and hugely popular in Japan. He was born blind but has been playing piano since he was two! He can pick up very complex music on hearing it only once, and is able to play absolutely anything. Here is a video of him learning a new piece at the age of eleven: Nobuyuki’s piano lesson. What a lucky teacher to have a student like him!

While the orchestra were touring this time, they had a chance to see some beautiful scenery in Japan. Spring blossoms had begun to bloom, and they visited temples and gardens and traditional Japanese houses.

This historic Japanese house in Niigata (now a museum open to the public) once belonged to a wealthy landowner. It has sliding panel doors made of wood and paper. The floors are polished wood and there are many windows looking out onto the garden.

The golden Zen temple below is Kinkakuji in Kyoto, and it was originally built in the 1400s. It has been destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times over the centuries, and the current temple, whose top two floors are covered in gold leaf, was built in 1955.  It nestles amongst the pines beside an ornamental lake.

These images of temples, calm water and fir trees are so peaceful and beautiful that it’s hard to believe they are taken within a major city. In fact, Kinkakuji is only one of dozens of temples to be found on the outskirts of Kyoto.

The other image that springs to mind when we think of Japan is the shiny mega-city with its cutting-edge technology and modern architecture. High-speed trains connect the major cities, and gleaming highrise buildings reflect populations in the millions.

This is Osaka, Japan’s third-largest city. Although there are some historic shrines and temples and a reconstructed castle, Osaka is largely ultra-modern.

Tokyo, too, is full of amazing sights. From the giant spider sculpture at Roppongi Tower to bright posters advertising spotty mushroom hats, it is a city with a surprise around every corner!

My husband Mark went to Japan with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and made a radio programme all about their experiences. To listen to the programme, click BBC Radio 4 Return to Japan.

Harry Potter heaven!

Recently my children went with friends to see The Making of Harry Potter in a giant studio space in northwest London (near Watford Junction). Visitors can wander around the original film sets of JK Rowling’s brilliant Harry Potter series, and look at spectacular props, models and costumes worn by the real actors!

The flying car greets you at the entrance, along with giant images of some of the main characters from the films (can you spot Draco Malfoy behind the car with his Slytherin badge?) At the beginning of the tour, a film is shown on a giant screen about what you will see inside. The final image of the film shows the huge doors leading to the Great Hall. Suddenly the screen rises to reveal those very same doors for you to walk through!

As the doors slowly open you enter a huge dining hall lined with refectory tables set with copper plates and golden goblets. Statues line the walls and tall windows rise at each end of the room. This is where Harry and his friends ate their meals, while at the Head Table the Headmaster Dumbledore and all the teachers sat surveying the pupils.

At the top of the Great Hall stand figures wearing the costumes of Mad-Eye Moody, Sybil Trelawney, Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore and Rubeus Hagrid, among others.

From the Great Hall you can wander through other sets at Hogwarts, including the potions classroom where a figure of Severus Snape stands menacingly before an array of bottles, jars and cauldrons. (Snape was always my favourite character, so I would have loved to see this room!)

 Other sets from Hogwarts School of Wizardry include Dumbledore’s study, with its walls filled with books and stone columns bathed in an eerie blue light.

In contrast, the Gryffindor Common Room where Harry, Ron and Hermione spent many hours has a warm atmosphere with its giant hearth, luxurious Medieval tapestry and soft furnishings in orange and red.

  Another exhibit of costumes shows what Harry, Ron and Hermione wore, including the Invisibility Cloak with its green-screen lining for special effects!

Elsewhere in the Hogwarts section lies the Sword of Gryffindor in a glass case. There are also cases showing different models of broomstick and a wide range of magic wands.

Children under 15 who take the tour are given a special Harry Potter passport, in which they can get stamps for the different areas they visit. They can also get free badges to show they’ve been on the tour.

Visitors can also see The Burrow, where the Weasley family live. The low ceilings and earthy colours give it a cosy and somewhat chaotic feeling, a bit like a rabbit warren.

The style of Dolores Umbridge’s office in the Ministry of Magic couldn’t be more different! You can see her taste for pink and very ornate furnishings. If you look very closely you can see the painted plates with images of kittens hanging on the walls.

One part of the tour has a full street scene where Diagon Alley is recreated. You can see all the shops where Harry and his fellow pupils would have got all their school supplies, including a wand at Olivander’s, quidditch equipment at the sports shop and magical instruments at Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment.

I’m sure I would have spent hours window shopping in Diagon Alley! Look at all the wonderful instruments in Wiseacre’s window…

But the best shop in Diagon Alley has to be Fred and George Weasley’s magical emporium, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. You can see it above – the red shop with a giant man sticking out of the window! I’m sure you remember all the amazing sweets and other clever things available there, including Weasley’s Puking Pastilles and Sticky Trainers.

Elsewhere you can see how Harry and Hagrid rode into the air on their special motorbike-and-sidecar. The actors sat on a model which rose up on a hydraulic lift, and the green screen behind allowed the filmmakers to create an image of clouds and trees far below them.

One of the most impressive things you can see on this tour is a giant model of Hogwarts, which is built to look like a Medieval castle in the middle of the Scottish highlands. The model stands surrounded by craggy hills and fir trees, and in the film it appears both at night and in daylight as the pupils arrive at the school at the beginning of each new year.

It’s amazing to think that all the images of this fantastic building in the Harry Potter films were made using this scaled-down model. My kids had a great time on the tour, and their three hours positively flew by! Maybe one day I’ll get a chance to go there and see it all for myself…

If you want to explore the world of Harry Potter even further you can visit Pottermore, JK Rowling’s website where you can become a student of wizardry at Hogwarts, get sorted by the Sorting Hat and lots more!

Pink! the Musical is on tour

After many months of planning and preparation, Pink! the Musical set off on a 12-week tour around Scottish primary schools at the beginning of March. The yellow Hopscotch Theatre van is now zipping across the land, perhaps to park up in a playground near you!

There are three delightful actors who play all the parts in the show. Craig Anthony-Ralston plays Patrick, the central character who is very upset when he wakes up one morning to discover he has turned pink. Craig has a lot of songs to sing, and he always wows the audience when he walks across the stage on his hands! (Or should I say flippers?)

photo © Deirdre Hannon http://www.nofussphotography.com

Patrick’s Mum is played by Louise Montgomery, who sings a sweet lullabye to send Patrick to sleep. You can see in the picture below she is singing about the stars twinkling up high in the sky. Louise also plays Patrick’s best friend Arthur who tries to comfort Patrick about his terrible predicament.

Lucy Avison has to be three different penguins! She plays Patrick’s Dad, his other best friend Lulu and Doctor Black who can’t figure out how to fix Patrick’s mysterious pinkness. To show the difference between all of Lucy’s characters, the designer Socks Rolland looked at the illustrations of Pink! by Margaret Chamberlain and chose some simple props to give each one. So the Dad has big round glasses, a bow tie and a newspaper, the doctor has 1950s glasses and a stethoscope, and Lulu wears a bright yellow bow on her head and carries a school satchel.

photo © Deirdre Hannon http://www.nofussphotography.com

Here is Lucy as the Dad. You can see how simply the character can be changed with just a few little adjustments. Here she is again as Doctor Black, tending to poor worried Patrick:

photo © Deirdre Hannon http://www.nofussphotography.com

The other challenge for Socks the designer was how to create a flock of flamingos. With only three actors to work with, this would prove rather tricky… Because he is pink, Patrick decides to swim to the southern tip of Africa where he thinks he might fit in better with other pink birds. The flamingos are perfectly polite, but poor Patrick struggles to do anything they can do.

Here is Patrick meeting the flamingos for the first time. Socks has made their long necks and curvy beaks beautifully, and they look very much like the illustrations in the book. The little pink tutus give an impression of the flamingos’ bodies, and Lucy and Louise move the heads around as though there are four birds talking to Patrick.

As you can see, Patrick is very frustrated that he can’t do anything flamingos can do, so he decides to leave Africa behind and swim back home again. His friends are delighted to see him, and he gets to tell the whole class about his adventures.

In the end, Patrick discovers that being different is okay, and that his friends love him no matter what. The three penguins lead the children in a final rendition of the Fun to be a Penguin song with actions. Most schools are able to listen to the song in advance so that the children already know it when the show comes to their school.

At today’s performance at Bearsden Primary School the children really enjoyed singing along and waving their arms with Patrick and his friends. After every show, the schools fill in feedback forms to help us make improvements and identify our strong points. Here are some of the comments we’ve had so far:

Just a few of the brilliant comments we’ve had so far!

Each school that books the show also receives a Pink Resource Box with lots of goodies inside. These include a copy of Pink!, a CD of all the songs with the lyrics, fifteen resource sheets for classroom activities on a diversity theme, and a little beanbag fish to use in Circle Time as the “speaking toy.”

Click HERE to go to the Hopscotch Theatre website where you can download the Pink Resources and listen to the Fun to be a Penguin song. There is also a short video about the show produced by actor and filmmaker David Goodall, which you can see HERE.

Finally, I must thank Creative Scotland for the generous grant that made Pink! the Musical possible, as well as Sense Over Sectarianism and the Robertson Trust who have each funded an extra four weeks of touring to bring the musical to thousands more children this spring. The Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust has also funded performances in ten primary schools in Inverclyde. With all this support we are reaching out to children across the country to help them learn to respect difference and celebrate diversity. I hope one day we can make bullying of all kinds a thing of the past.

photo © Deirdre Hannon http://www.nofussphotography.com

An amazing school visit

After receiving 48 lovely letters inviting me to visit their school, I had a wonderful day with the P2 children at St Matthew’s Primary in Bishopbriggs. From the moment I arrived I was surrounded by eager faces, and their teachers Mrs Hannah and Miss Lochhead were warm and welcoming. I felt like a pop star!

Once I was in my chair-of-honour and the children were all sitting around me, Mrs Hannah picked up her guitar and led them in a spirited sing-song about the circus! They all sang gustily about The Girl on the Flying Trapeze and The Funny Circus Clown, and I was very impressed indeed. They sang beautifully and Mrs Hannah was a real expert on the guitar! Next to us on one wall was a huge audience made up of very individual characters:

When the songs were done, all eyes turned to me. I had brought several of my picture books to share with the children, and they had lots of questions for me as we went along. We talked about crazy pets and fussy eaters, and because they had spent so much time working with Lewis Clowns Around in class, they were especially keen to hear the new story all about Lewis’s brother, Harris the Hero.

Mrs Hannah showed me around her very colourful classroom, and I must say the children’s work was quite amazing! They had used Lewis Clowns Around to make circus programmes, circus drawings and circus poems, and they even had a Lewis counting wall!

The programmes were all very different, and inside they listed all the events happening at the circus and their starting times. I liked the way they were displayed on the wall at a jaunty angle. Very stylish!

The Lewis counting wall helped the children learn the different combinations of numbers adding up to 5 or 7 or 9 and so on. The number 7 Lewis was juggling balls that read 0/7, 1/6, 2/5 and 3/4. What a clever way to make maths colourful and fun!

On another wall I spotted a letter addressed to me from Alyssa. It said, “Dear Lynne – If I was in the circus I would like to be a clown because they play tricks on people. Yours sincerely, Alyssa.” I thought she might like to keep the letter up on the wall at school rather than give it to me, so I took a picture of it instead.

Later the children sat in their reading corner with copies of Lewis Clowns Around. You can see them all reading very intently! I think they all love the beautiful illustrations by Gabby Grant (and so do I!) I can’t wait for Harris the Hero to come out so I can send them a special signed copy.

At the end of my visit the class presented me with a big bag of goodies! They had looked on my website to learn all about me and find out what I like. At the bottom of my About Me page I mention the fact that I love crunchy carrots, Bramley apple crumble and very dark chocolate. And look what they gave me!

Visiting St Matthew’s was an absolute joy, and I was so impressed by Mrs Hannah and all the P2 children. I hope they are reading this: THANK YOU, EVERYONE!

The best job in the world!

Every once in a while I get a little reminder of why I have the best job in the world. Today I received three lovely packages in the post. The first two were addressed to Lynne Rickards (author) and were decorated all over with whimsical puffins. Inside I found 48 letters and 15 fantastic drawings from the P2 classes at St Matthew’s Primary School in Bishopbriggs! Their teacher Mrs Hannah explained in a note that they had been reading Lewis Clowns Around and using my Puffin Pack to learn all about the circus.

Here is one of the fabulous puffins the children drew on the outside of those two manilla envelopes. As you can see, there are some talented artists at St Matthew’s Primary! The children all wrote to tell me how much they enjoyed my book, and many of them asked me if I would come and visit their school. How can I possibly resist?

All the children’s letters were beautifully illustrated with so much imagination! I was also very impressed with their handwriting, as they are all only six years old. They told me about their favourite part of the story (such as when Lewis flies up to rescue Karla koala at the top of the tent). I was very pleased to learn that not only is there a Lewis in the class, but there is also a Carla! She told me her favourite part was when she saw her name in the book.

Eran sent me this brilliant drawing of Lewis the clown, with his pompom buttons and colourful beak. I think it looks just like him. He’s clearly in a hurry, but he’d better watch where he’s going or he’ll trip over those big clown shoes!

Olivia decided to draw the stripy circus tent. She has cleverly remembered to add the ropes that hold the tent up, so it won’t fall over or fly off in the wind.

I sat for a long time looking at all the children’s letters and drawings, thinking how lucky I was to be a picture book author. Who else gets such wonderful surprises in the post? And then I remembered the third envelope. It was from my publisher, and inside was a copy of my new book, Harris the Hero. This story follows on from Lewis Clowns Around, and is all about Lewis’s brother who sets off on an adventure of his own.

This is another rhyming story and it’s beautifully illustrated by Gabby Grant. In the last book she had to draw all sorts of circus animals, from flying blue monkeys to balancing pandas, but this time she has drawn the many birds and animals that live on the east coast of Scotland. These include puffins, guillemots and seagulls that perch on the rocky cliffs.

Gabby has also drawn seals, otters, dolphins, fish and one eider duck! All of these creatures come to Harris’s aid when he finds a little lost seal who is stuck in Anstruther Harbour. When Harris and the little seal start to struggle against giant waves, the other friends all come together to help bring the seal home again.

I can’t wait to share my new book with all the children who have enjoyed Lewis Clowns Around, starting with the P2 pupils at St Matthew’s Primary School! I wonder if there’s a Harris in the class…