Lockdown tales
(BBC Radio Suffolk and online worldwide, 2020)
A PODCAST SERIES SENDING STORIES TO CHILDREN
DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS
‘Wonderful and innovative at this difficult time’ -- MACMILLAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS
LISTEN VIA OUR WEBSITE BY CHOOSING FROM THE BELOW:
OR FIND THE TALES ON: SPOTIFY · STITCHER · SOUNDCLOUD · ITUNES
In March 2020, a quarter of the world’s population went into some form of lockdown. Wonderful Beast put aside glitchy Zoom calls and manic WhatsApp groups for a moment of calm, turning back to the intimate simplicity and timeless magic of the bedtime story, in an extraordinary goodwill collaboration involving over thirty artists.
As the theatre company of folk and fairy tales, myths and legends, we brought together a fantastic array of readers performing much-loved stories and poems, classic and contemporary, to children sharing in the human experience of being grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, and friends separated from their families and loved ones, due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
Stories were shared for free with children worldwide, bringing together families across the globe through the power of stories (we discovered a large number of our listeners were as far away as Hong Kong!). Readers included established and upcoming actors, musicians, children’s authors reading their own stories, a dancer, opera singer and poet, with stories and poems often dedicated to their own loved ones.
Lockdown Tales has been kindly supported by publishers Nosy Crow, MacMillan Children’s Books, Penguin Random House (UK and New Zealand), Harper Collins, White Fox Publishing, and Andersen Press. We are ever-grateful to our funders, the Frank Jackson Foundation, Suffolk Community Foundation, Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust and Scarfe Charitable Trust, and to all those individuals who have contributed to our project.
Educational resources for home and school
As children returned to educational settings in September, Lockdown Tales and their story-linked activities (see the stories to find which have these) have remained available as a rich educational resource.
The ongoing aim is to encourage a love of stories, stimulate imagination, enable discussion, inspire creative writing and offer performance opportunities to engender joy into people’s lives, young and old alike. We are working with schools and libraries to develop new ways of using the material Lockdown Tales has created. We would love to hear from any libraries, home-schooling groups and schools interested in working with us. You can contact us here.
As the theatre company of folk and fairy tales, myths and legends, we brought together a fantastic array of readers performing much-loved stories and poems, classic and contemporary, to children sharing in the human experience of being grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, and friends separated from their families and loved ones, due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
Stories were shared for free with children worldwide, bringing together families across the globe through the power of stories (we discovered a large number of our listeners were as far away as Hong Kong!). Readers included established and upcoming actors, musicians, children’s authors reading their own stories, a dancer, opera singer and poet, with stories and poems often dedicated to their own loved ones.
Lockdown Tales has been kindly supported by publishers Nosy Crow, MacMillan Children’s Books, Penguin Random House (UK and New Zealand), Harper Collins, White Fox Publishing, and Andersen Press. We are ever-grateful to our funders, the Frank Jackson Foundation, Suffolk Community Foundation, Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust and Scarfe Charitable Trust, and to all those individuals who have contributed to our project.
Educational resources for home and school
As children returned to educational settings in September, Lockdown Tales and their story-linked activities (see the stories to find which have these) have remained available as a rich educational resource.
The ongoing aim is to encourage a love of stories, stimulate imagination, enable discussion, inspire creative writing and offer performance opportunities to engender joy into people’s lives, young and old alike. We are working with schools and libraries to develop new ways of using the material Lockdown Tales has created. We would love to hear from any libraries, home-schooling groups and schools interested in working with us. You can contact us here.
CHILDREN'S RESPONSES - WE WANT YOU TO JOIN IN!
We are inviting children to respond creatively to the stories by engaging with resources and activities on our website.
Tag us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or email us at [email protected] with pictures and videos of your creations.
We are inviting children to respond creatively to the stories by engaging with resources and activities on our website.
Tag us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or email us at [email protected] with pictures and videos of your creations.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS:
'My grandson often asks for the Wonderful Beast Lockdown stories at mealtimes. It's great for me as it helps to keep him seated at the table rather than running around between mouthfuls!'
'Absolutely loving this series - some great voices and stories my kids love as well as folk tales I'd never heard before.'
'Such a lovely thing for children stuck at home. Brilliant readers, lovely stories.
My daughter keeps asking to hear them again. Highly recommend.'
'My grandson often asks for the Wonderful Beast Lockdown stories at mealtimes. It's great for me as it helps to keep him seated at the table rather than running around between mouthfuls!'
'Absolutely loving this series - some great voices and stories my kids love as well as folk tales I'd never heard before.'
'Such a lovely thing for children stuck at home. Brilliant readers, lovely stories.
My daughter keeps asking to hear them again. Highly recommend.'
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From our COMPOSER AND musician, sylvia hallett:My grandson, Pablo, is 3 and loves choosing the stories himself and pressing 'play'. It's nice that the stories run on so he may get to hear one he hasn't heard before. His favourite at the moment is 'How the Beetle got its Colours'. He likes 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', 'I Love You Blue Kangaroo', and depending on his mood sometimes the Three Little Pigs, sometimes Jack and the Beanstalk, and the Vain Little Mouse, even though these have menacing characters in them. He likes the rhythm of the Old Woman and her Pig, even though the words are quite violent, but they go rollicking on in cause and effect. The tales are a huge success with him. Plus he sometimes comments on the introduction music...'that's Granny!'
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funders
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The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust Scarfe Charitable Trust |
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Lockdown Tales is a free resource and Wonderful Beast relies solely on the support of funders and donors. All contributions, however small, are hugely appreciated. Please help us to keep this project running as long as possible by making a donation, if you can.
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Publishers
Andersen Press; Harper Collins; MacMillan Children’s Books; Nosy Crow; Penguin Random House (UK and New Zealand); White Fox Publishing.
readers (Click here to find out more) |
creatives |
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Julia Adlard
Julia Blackburn Martin Bonger Ann Bryson Sally-Ann Burnett Rosalind Burt Jonathan Buxton Emma Chichester Clark Alfie Enoch Vincent Franklin Hugh Fraser Theo Fraser Steele Ann Firbank |
Rob Gildon
Hilary Greatorex William Hackett-Jones Jenny Hall Emily Holt Rob Jarvis Gemma Jones Veronica Lamond Morven Macbeth Petra Markham Sasha Mitchell Sophie Neville Bethany O'Halloran |
Dean Parkin
Ann Penfold Matt Prendergast Diana Quick Prathap Ramachandra Montserrat Roig de Puig Martina Schwarz Anusha Subramanyam Cleo Sylvestre Penelope Wilton Sam Wright |
Alys Kihl
Emma Close-Brooks musicSylvia Hallett (main theme)
Rob Gildon Veronica Lamond Sasha Mitchell Prathap Ramachandra Martina Schwarz |
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STORIES FOR GROWN-UPS AND OLDER CHILDREN
Our Stories from the Archives podcast has a bank of fantastic folk tales told by some of our most famous actors. They're funny, touching and brilliantly performed. Available on Spotify, iTunes and through the website, you can take a look here to listen online. 
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LOOKING FOR MORE YOUNG CHILDREN'S STORIES?
Many of you will remember our Early Years productions Orla and the Sun and Orla's Moon, and the 2018 Orla Tour. Audio versions of the stories have now been made available online through Shining Cat, and you can listen here: Orla and the Sun / Orla's Moon. 
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LOOKING FOR MORE ACTIVITIES?
Our partners at Early Arts have created the Early Arts' Creative Care Package: a quarterly e-bulletin, jam-packed with creative ideas, training events and research to help make life a little more exciting. Find out more and sign up for some great ideas here. 
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