'Jackanory gets revamp for specials with CGI characters' by Owen Gibson, The Guardian, 20 October 2006.

'Paddington Bear: a case study of immigration and otherness' by Angela Smith. Children's Literature in Education, 37(1), March 2006.

"Paddington, as a series of books begun in the late 1950s, presents issues of anti-racism and ‘Otherness’ which can be revealed through a close textual analysis of the introductory chapters of the first book in series, A Bear Called Paddington (1958), whilst also showing how the dominant culture retains its superior status."

Full text free to download from the Springer site.

Boop Reads a Folk Tale (Cute Overload)

The Beatrix Potter Collections (V&A).

The Illustrators Project: Helen Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) (University of Pittsburgh).

Peter Rabbit and Friends

Dick Bruna is being honoured with a museum for his work in his hometown of Utrecht. Dick Bruna Huis opens on Saturday 18 February. More in today's Guardian. Miffy fun on the official Dick Bruna site and Noggin.

Spent most of this week on business in Bremen, where I was delighted to see the statue of the famous musicians.

Sur la Lune Fairy Tales includes the tale and illustrations by Walter Crane and Arthur Rackham.

The Bremen Tourism site has pictures and the 1847 version of the tale.

Brementown Musicians includes an interactive tale and game.

Michael Bond is eighty today. The BBC website includes a videoclip of his appearance at Paddington Station, and a magazine article and slide show, 'Elevenses with Mr Paddington.'

Rupert Bear is being restyled for TV. Meanwhile, he has been nominated as a style icon - vote here. The official website includes annual covers for 1936-2005. A brief history is online at Teddy Bear UK.

The latest stamp issue from the Royal Mail is the Animal Tales Collection of storybook characters. Of course, Paddington is 1st class..

The highlight of this year's Hampton Court for me was Paddington's Marmalade Garden:

RHS coverage

As part of Miffy's birthday celebrations, the wonderful Dick Bruna signed books at Waterstones Piccadilly. I still can't believe I actually saw him sign my books!

One of the treasures presented on earthly pursuits is The Flowers Personified: being a translation of Grandville's 'Les Fleurs Animées' by N. Cleaveland, including the wonderful, wonderful plates.

For professional reasons, I was interested to see what The Flowers Personified had to say about tobacco, and was surprised to find that it was not personified. 'A Trick of the Flower Fairy' reveals the reason:

"...the Flower Fairy was inconsolable after the departure of her companions.

In her vexation, she determined to play upon them some clever trick in her own way.

“The flowers,” said she, “have become women. As such, they cannot do without the homage of men. If I can contrive to deprive them of that, they will soon be disgusted with the earth.”

She was thinking at the time of a genius, young, handsome, and brilliant – a genius of intrigue, if ever there were one, who had suddenly relinquished all intercourse with fairies, and who, in the retirement of his grotto, had given himself up to the pleasures of smoking...

“What is the condition of woman in the East – in all those countries where opium is smoked? A plaything, and nothing more. The men, absorbed in the perpetual delights of intoxication, never think of their wives; or if they do, it is but to make them the subjects of their capricious whims. The Chinese woman has lost the use of her feet; her complexion is hidden beneath a mass of paint; her eyebrows are eradicated; and she is nothing else than a curious animal – a living screen-figure, with which her possessor amuses himself in the interval between two ecstasies. But, “said to herself the Flower Fairy, “opium is not suited to the climate of Europe. We must put tobacco in its place.

“If we teach man to smoke, he will, like the genius, drive woman away from him. This shall be my revenge.” It was thus that tobacco was invented...

For a little while the fairy believed that she had actually succeeded in her enterprise. Woman was entirely deserted; her empire had ceased to exist. Some husbands even began to talk of confining their wives in seraglios – of dislocating their ankles – of boring their noses with fish-bones – and of painting them blue.

But the women turned away the storm, and their subjugation lasted but a little while. They very soon found a way to reconquer man: they began to smoke themselves.

The Flower Fairy, if she would accomplish her object, must pull some other wire."
-- 'A Trick of the Flower Fairy' in The Flowers Personified on earthly puruits

"The present version of the song "London Bridge is Falling Down - My Fair Lady " though based on the old Norse saga, was composed in the 13th century when the unpopular Queen Eleanor was given the tolls from the bridge as a present from her husband, Henry III, in 1269. She was a prolific spender and put all the toll money to her own personal use instead of spending it on the bridge.

Needless to say, the bridge fell into serious disrepair. The old song then became reborn as one of angry sarcastic criticism against the Queen, "London Bridge is Falling down, my Fair Lady". The bridge finally returned to the control of the City of London in 1281, but that winter with heavy ice pushing against the bridge, the ill-maintained structure suffered severe damage with five arches collapsing into the water, and a temporary timber bridge had to be built for that part."

This, and similar snippets can be found on the history pages of The London Bridge Museum and Educational Trust.

The Guardian/Waterstone's children's books quiz

"Potter knew the dark, bad places of the heart as intimately as her contemporary, Joseph Conrad. The last words of Samuel Whiskers are not "The horror! The horror!" - they are "A Mouse" - but in context, their effect is almost exactly the same."
-- Nick Lezard, 'Classic of the month: The complete works of Beatrix Potter.' The Guardian, 24 November 2004.

I'm Only A Member, so I was not allowed to take photos of Hall decked out as Hogwarts when I had lunch there yesterday. Fortunately, attendees of the DVD launch party were allowed to snap away, and several photos have already been posted:

Hall with "floating" candles (from the BBC Norfolk website)

High Table with Dumbledore's chair (from 'TLC PoA DVD Launch Party Report Part I' by Melissa Anelli. The Leaky Cauldron, 19 November 2004)

Newsround's set photos slide show includes a view of Hall from the Gallery, some close-ups of the replica Honeydukes sweet shop, complete with chocolate fountain for marshmallow dipping,and the sign outside pointing the way to "Hogwarts," not to mention some bigger photos of the Knight bus's arrival than I took at the rehearsal.

Short video clip of the event on Extra TV.com

Tuesday - Quidditch anyone? The Garden gets a temporary makeover:


Photo by O
Wednesday - The Knight Bus takes a turn on the lawn:

S let me take this with his new phone

S-phone again

Thursday - early lunch in Hall - decked out like Hogwarts dining hall. I loved the candles hanging from the hammerbeam ceiling, but was less keen on the Leaky Cauldron and Sweet Shop sets in Hall - seemed odd to have them crammed in like that.

The press launch of the DVD is this evening, and, as part of the contract with the film company, no photos were allowed in Hall - but, trust me, it looked amazing.

"One by one we come to life,
Then side-by-side we wait
While our company swells in numbers
(Some come early, some come late);
And some of us may bore you,
And some of us enthral,
But you cannot choose between us
You must take us one and all.
We'll be bound together tightly
For we're naught if we break free.
If you'd like some clues about us
Simply answer: WHO ARE WE?"

- A clue from J.K. Rowling's official site, on which she announced three chapter titles from Harry Potter 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:

Chapter 2 Spinners End
Chapter 6 Draco's Detour
Chapter 14 Felix Felicis

'J.K. releases three chapter names from Harry Potter' by Dave Haber, with info thanks to Felicia Rickman and other Wizard News readers. Wizard News, 31 October 2004

'A way with the fairies' by Deirdre Fernand. The Sunday Times Magazine, 26 September 2004.

An article about Child-Hazel, an unpublished illustrated fairy story from the late 19th century, which is being heralded as 'the next Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady' after the author's neice discovered it in the attic and took it along to an Antiques Roadshow valuation.

Miffy by Toogle

The Dick Bruna Site has introduced some new features, including some sweet games to test new memories and young hand and eye coordination. Best of all, though, are the titles of the Miffy animation, complete with the Miffy song