My Life as a Courgette/Ma vie de courgette

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A beautifully animated French-Swiss stop-motion animation about the adventures of a courgette who wants to travel to Mars…. Oops, sorry, that’s not true! 😉

Do read on…

My Life as a Courgette tells the story of a little boy who likes to be called “Courgette” who has to go and live in a children’s home. Available on Film 4 for the next six days. Highly recommended for all age groups – even grownups 🙂 And it really is beautifully done.

If you feel inspired to make your own stop motion animation afterwards, have a look at my FREE DOWNLOADABLE STOP MOTION ANIMATION WORKSHOP and make your own film. All you need is a smartphone/tablet and some imagination. Have a go!

Lego Dancehall Culture!

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Animation by 11 year old MC Stevie Youngculture

Created during the lockdown by MC Stevie Youngculture, this is a brilliantly atmospheric music video, featuring Stevie’s own vocals. I love the sound system detail! 🙂

Feeling inspired? Stevie used the 3D animation tutorial download I posted a couple of weeks ago to make this. Why not have a go at making your own and send me the results? I promise I’ll post it on my Youtube channel and here – as long as there are no really rude bits or sweary words etc! 😉

Stay well and stay creative everyone!

X Claire

Drawing tutorials with Quentin Blake

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Learn to draw Willy Wonka with Quentin Blake:)

If I had to choose a favourite children’s illustrator I think it would have to be Quentin Blake – I love his drawing style, and sense of humour! He has a Youtube channel which is really worth subscribing to, to pick up some excellent drawing tips, and just for the pleasure of watching him work.

And then have a look at him draw a Hornswoggler…

Inspired? Draw your own Hornswoggler and send it to me, I’d love to see what you come up with 🙂

Stay well, guys, remember to take care and look after one another!

X Claire

Live Cartoons! The First Cat In Space Ate Pizza

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This is so brilliant and barmy, the brainchild of kids author Mac Barnett and his illustrator chum Shawn Harris, both incredibly talented.

I love it and I’m pretty sure most kids will love it (I’m on a wavelength with kids for this kind of thing!)

Here’s the first episode on Youtube. Check out the other three, and even more exciting, there are more episodes to come! Stay tuned space cat lovers!

Featuring nutty stories, weird tunes, brilliant drawing – and magnets 🙂

Harry Potter at Home

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Get your wizarding on!

OK, so this is pretty cool for all you HP fans out there, JK Rowling has launched a Harry Potter at Home Hub with games and activities to keep our brains and hands busy during this lockdown.

To enrol at Hogwarts you have to answer some very interesting questions! I am now officially a Hufflepuff and have a passport to prove it! 🙂

There’s loads of stuff on there to get going with like quizzes, wordsearches and crafting – you can even make your very own Harry Potter gift bag. Take a look.

I hope you’re all keeping well! Don’t forget to keep washing your hands, and take care of yourselves and one another.

Hang in there!

X Claire

I Want My Hat Back Puppet Show!

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I just watched the premiere of a puppet show inspired by Jon Klassen’s book “I Want My Hat Back“. It was created entirely during the Covid 19 lockdown, for the Little Angel Theatre Company, here in the UK. It’s now on the Little Angel Theatre’s Youtube channel and available for the next 14 days, and it’s wonderful

Something to enjoy and smile about on this locked-down Easter Monday. Stay well everyone! 🙂

The Brilliant Book Trust

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I’ve posted about the Book Trust’s resources earlier, but they are adding loads of great stuff to their site, including e-books and drawing tutorials with some of the best children’s illustrators.

Have a look, link below! (Ooh, that sounds like something a pirate might shout!) 😉

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/have-some-fun/

And here’s a video tutorial from the Book Trust’s website by their Illustrator in Residence Ed Vere:

Stay home, stay well, have fun and learn stuff! 🙂

X Claire