Nosy Crow's Blog, page 4

Read an exclusive extract of Lola and Larch Save the Sunshine Spell by Sinéad O’Hart

We’re very excited to be publishing Lola and Larch Save the Sunshine Spell in July – a heart-warming, funny celebration of friendship and the second book in the Lola and Larch series by author Sinéad O’Hart and illustrated by Rachel Seago.

And today we’re delighted to be sharing a preview of the book – you can read the first few pages below!

Granny’s garden is growing out of control! Larch is sure a bad fairy is behind this agricultural anarchy…

Lola can’t believe her luck. The rabbit she’s rescued in the forest is actually a rebellious fairy in disguise! But Lola’s new friend Larch has trouble on her tail… Filled with fun, friendship, family and naughty fairies, this beautifully illustrated series is perfect for young readers.

Evil Euphorbia Spurge has sent bad magic across the forest and it’s turning all the plants wild! Lola’s granny is thrilled because her garden is looking lush, but Larch is sure she saw a courgette wave and smile at her – and they’re not supposed to do that, are they? It’s time for Lola and Larch to head into the forest and grapple with a green-fingered fiend!

Read an extract of Lola and Larch Save the Sunshine Spell here:

Lola and Larch Save the Sunshine Spell will be published on July 4th – you can order a copy from Waterstones here, Bookshop.org here, or from Amazon here. Do let us know on socials what you thought of the first few chapters when you’ve finished reading!

If you’d like to stay up-to-date with all of our latest book news, including exclusive previews, giveaways, award news and more, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

The post Read an exclusive extract of Lola and Larch Save the Sunshine Spell by Sinéad O’Hart appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Get Ready for Football Fever! With books, fun facts and activity packs

Calling all young football fans! The 2024 Euros are finally here, and it’s going to be an epic tournament held across Germany. But what exactly are the Euros? Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about this exciting competition!

All You Need to Know About the 2024 Euros

The Euros is a football tournament that happens every four years between the national teams of Europe. This year, it’s being hosted by Germany. There are 24 teams competing in the tournament, and they’ll be playing in different cities across the country.

How to get involved

There are lots of ways to get involved in the Euros, even if you can’t make it to a game! You can:

Watch the matches on TV or onlineSupport your favourite team by wearing their colours and cheering them on!Play your own Euros tournament with your friends or familyLearn more about the different countries and players competing in the tournamentOr pick up one of our books about sports!

The best books about sports from Nosy Crow

If you’re looking to learn all about football, and maybe even how to become a footballer, this Euros season, then look no further than How to be a Footballer and Other Sports Jobs! Take a look at the football industry and all the other kinds of sports professions!

Not only is it the Euros this year, but it’s also the Summer Olympics being hosted in Paris! To learn all about the history of the Olympics, all the sports that partake in them and the upcoming games, check out On Your Marks, Get Set, Gold!

To start inspiring a love for the Euros early, discover Bizzy Bear: Football Player! This interactive board book is perfect to bring about football lovers and inspire a love for the game!

To discover more books about sports from Nosy Crow, browse our curated list of Exciting Children’s Books About Sports for all different age groups!

 

Which team are you rooting for this year? Send us your Euros spirit on our socials @nosycrow.

The post Get Ready for Football Fever! With books, fun facts and activity packs appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Make Dad Smile This Father’s Day: Story Time Adventures He’ll Love

Celebrate Dad with the 6 Best Father’s Day Books for Preschoolers & Dads

Father’s Day is just around the corner, and it’s the perfect time to celebrate the amazing dads in our lives! Dads are our heroes, our confidants, and our biggest fans. They play so many important roles in our lives, and it’s important to show them how much we care.

At Nosy Crow, we know that dads love to share special moments with their children. That’s why we have a fantastic selection of picture, baby and toddler and fiction books that are perfect for Father’s Day. From silly stories about animal dads to heartwarming tales about the special bond between a father and child, there’s a book to suit every dad and every family. To see a more comprehensive selection, browse our curated list specifically for Father’s Day!

Here are a few of our favorite Father’s Day picks:

For the Dad Who Loves Adventure: “Up High” is a tender and funny celebration of the bond between father and son whilst adventuring on dad’s shoulders!

For the Dad Who’s Always There for You: “When I Became Your Daddy” is a beautiful, reassuring picture book about the unconditional love a father has for his children. This book is a beautiful reminder of how much dads mean to us.

For the “Super” Dads: “Superhero Dad” is an exciting story about the everyday antics of parenthood and spins them into a hilarious and heartwarming adventure. Discover the entire series here to read more about the most ordinary parents and how they are capable of amazing things.

No matter what kind of dad you’re celebrating, there’s a Nosy Crow book that’s perfect for him. So curl up with your dad this Father’s Day and share a special story together.

Don’t forget to share pictures with us on our socials of what your Father’s Day looks like this year @nosycrow.

We hope you have a wonderful Father’s Day!

The post Make Dad Smile This Father’s Day: Story Time Adventures He’ll Love appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Our Crows recommend their favourite books for Empathy Day, 2024!

To celebrate Empathy Day this year, we asked our colleagues: “If you could read one book again for the first time, what would it be?”

Today is Empathy Day! Founded by EmpathyLab, Empathy Day inspires children and young people to learn more about empathy, have transformational experiences through stories and put empathy into action. There are lots of great, free resources available on the EmpathyLab website, which you can explore further here.

In celebration of Empathy Day, our Crows organized a heartwarming book exchange at our offices! Our passionate colleagues each brought a book they loved and recommended, placing them on our communal shelves for others to discover and enjoy. What a fantastic way to find a new favorite book and connect through stories! Discover what our Crows had to say about each book!

—

We also shared a prompt with our UK and US team and asked them to answer “if you could read one book again for the first time, what would it be?”

And our Crow’s answered the call!

White Noise by Don DeLillo “or my childhood FAVOURITE” The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews – Hannah Prutton, Publicity ManagerThe Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan – Lara Kelly, Social Media ExecutiveAll The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – Catherine Stokes, UK and Export Sales and Marketing DirectorOne Hundred  Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez – Cris Martin, Design Assistant. “Although every time I reread it feels like the first, because I keep finding new things (and losing others, weirdly).”Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin “for a recent adult pick, but the book from my childhood would be” I Am David by Anne Holm – Zöe Griffiths, Editorial Director for FictionBernadine Evaristo’s Mr Loverman – Erin Murgatroyd, Rights Director. “It’s extremely underrated and makes me cry, and cry, and cry!”A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews or A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket as a child – Lauren Fairgrieve, Editor (Non Fiction and Activity)Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, and as a child Richard Scarry’s Best Busy Day Ever – Kellie Balseiro, Field Sales Manager. “Childhood read would be Richard Scarry’s Best Busy Day Ever– it would also mean that I was sitting back on my dad’s lap learning how to read.”

If you are looking to partake in Empathy Day this year, please consider donating to the Empathy Day Crowdfunder with the goal of giving 100,000 new children life-changing empathy education experiences. You can donate here!

—

We hope this exercise sparked some warm memories! What book would transport you back to childhood if you could reread it for the first time?

Share your pick on social media and tag us, @NosyCrow, to be featured – let’s reminisce together!

The post Our Crows recommend their favourite books for Empathy Day, 2024! appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Read an exclusive extract of Freya’s Gold by Fiona Longmuir

We’re very excited to be publishing Freya’s Gold in June – a book about buried treasure and hidden secrets, written by the author of Looking for Emily, Fiona Longmuir.

And today we’re delighted to be sharing a preview of the book – you can read the first few pages below!

Legend says the cliffs by the seaside town of Edge are riddled with smugglers’ tunnels, and that gold is stashed in their caves. Freya and her best friend, Lin, love searching for treasure on the beach, but they steer clear of the dark and twisting tunnels. It’d be easy to get lost in there, and Freya’s sure she can hear voices echoing from them when the wind blows.

Then a mysterious woman moves into Freya’s granny’s B&B and soon everything that Freya loves about Edge is under threat. It’s time for Freya to face her fears. Can she strike gold before time runs out for her town?

Read an extract of Freya’s Gold here:

 

Freya’s Gold will be published on June 6th – you can order a copy from Waterstones here, Bookshop.org here, or from Amazon here. Do let us know on socials what you thought of the first few chapters when you’ve finished reading!

If you’d like to stay up-to-date with all of our latest book news, including exclusive previews, giveaways, award news and more, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

The post Read an exclusive extract of Freya’s Gold by Fiona Longmuir appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Kid’s Club May 2024

I Am Wolf

Welcome to our Nosy Crow Kids’ Club! Each month, we have fun activities for young readers. Join us for engaging content! Every month we will share a creative prompt inspired by our recent publications. We may also provide printable activity sheets for children to enjoy.

What Construct Would You Build?

This month, the kid’s club activity takes inspiration from the new fiction book I Am Wolf! A highly original and unputdownable read from the author of Orion Lost, Adam-2, the Dragon Storm series and the Consequence Girl, Alastair Chisholm!

If you were in Coll’s world, what construct would you be a part of?  

Would the people in this construct have any particular strengths or abilities? Draw a picture of what the construct would look like too!

Come up with your own construct and draw a picture of what it would look like! Would it be an animal? A part of nature? Possibly even a food! There are so many possibilities! Would the construct have any special abilities? Would the people share the same abilities?

Be sure to let us know if your young readers and illustrators partake in our activities. Please do share drawings, book reviews, or stories with us via email digital@nosycrow.com or @nosycrow on social media.

The post Kid’s Club May 2024 appeared first on Nosy Crow.

The inspiration behind I Am Wolf – a blog by Alastair Chisholm

This month we were absolutely delighted to have published I Am Wolf – a highly original and unputdownable read written by author Alastair Chisholm. Today we are very excited to be sharing a blog from Alastair, himself, about his inspiration behind Wolf, Coll and the upcoming books in the series!

Wolf. WOLF. WOOOOLFFFF!

I Am Wolf is my new book, the first of a trilogy, and it’s very exciting to see it out in the world!

It’s a sci-fi adventure in a world of huge mechanical beasts with human crews, roaming the land and fighting for territory. For young Coll, Wolf is his home and his life – but when he becomes separated, everything changes. Can Coll survive on the ground? Can he find Wolf again? And if he does … will they accept him back?

I adore these kinds of stories. Gigantic machines! Mysterious technology! Hostile territory, terrible danger, desperate courage! I loved them as a kid, in books and comics and films, and I still love them today – the action, the tech, the excitement. Above all, I love how they can tell us something about our own world.

The idea for Wolf came from the title itself, which popped into my head one day. I imagined it as a book cover: I Am Wolf, with a boy staring out at me. Who was this boy? Was Wolf his name? Was he part-wolf? No… This was a badge of honour, I realised. A claim. Wolf was his clan, his life, everything that mattered. “I Am Wolf”, he declared. That meant there were others who weren’t Wolf – and they were the enemy.

And I knew: this was a story about tribalism.

We live in an increasingly polarised society. Empathy is on the decrease, and in newspapers, television, and especially social media, issues are often portrayed as black and white, Goodies and Baddies. We follow our own ‘bubble’ of friends and dismiss – or actively hate – outsiders.

It’s understandable. When the world feels chaotic, it’s nice to be surrounded by folk who believe exactly what you believe, who will reinforce you and agree that WE are right and THEY are wrong. That certainty is comforting. Addictive, even.

Dangerous.

So in Wolf, the giant machines – Constructs – are literally powered by the collective will of their crews. Your Construct becomes strong when you believe in it. Wolf is all that matters. Wolf is right. Raven, Boar and the others are wrong. The more you believe that, the more powerful your Construct becomes.

Then I took my hero, Coll, and literally threw him out of his comfort zone. Away from Wolf, he encounters different crews. He’s wrong about pretty much everything. And his only chance to survive and save Wolf is to learn to empathise with those of other backgrounds, to understand that different isn’t always bad – and to use those differences to create something more.

Fortunately, Coll was wonderful to write. He arrived in my head fully formed, ready to go, as if I’d already met him. He’s strong, a bit short-tempered but secretly kind, not the smartest but fiercely loyal, ready to rush into the fight to help anyone, and he wears a prosthetic arm and leg.

Wolf isn’t a story about Coll’s limb difference – that’s just part of who he is – but of course it affects him. Wolf’s crew treat him differently, and Coll strives to prove himself by believing in Wolf harder than anyone. It’s only when he’s forced into the wider world that he realises he’s more than they ever saw.

(It’s important to say, I couldn’t have written Coll without support. I don’t have a limb difference, and it was critical that his story felt authentic to people who had lived his experience. Nosy Crow contacted organisations like The Limbbo Foundation (https://limbbofoundation.co.uk) and Finding Your Feet (https://findingyourfeet.net), who kindly read early drafts and helped me understand where I’d gone wrong. Representation is important, and everyone deserves to see themselves as the hero of any story – and we have to do it right. I hope I’ve managed. I’m grateful to everyone who helped.)

It’s been brilliant seeing Wolf released. Apart from anything else, it looks AMAZING. Designer Ray Tierney worked with artist Karítas Gunnarsdöttir to create the cover, and it’s just stunning!

So what comes next?

Well, in book one, Coll finds his own crew, and together they save Wolf. But we still don’t know who the enemy is. Raven’s crew have vanished, except for one girl, Brann. And there’s a mysterious signal coming from the north…

So in book two, I AM RAVEN, we’ll follow our heroes as they search for the Raven crew. We’ll hear Brann’s story, and the secrets she’s carrying. And we’ll learn how this world came to be … and the danger it now faces.

I can’t wait to share it with you!

The post The inspiration behind I Am Wolf – a blog by Alastair Chisholm appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Read an exclusive extract of Destiny Ink: Sleepover Surprise by Adeola Sokunbi

We’re very excited to be publishing Destiny Ink: Sleepover Surprise in June – a brilliant new highly-illustrated chapter book series from debut author Adeola Sokunbi.

And today we’re delighted to be sharing a preview of the book – you can read the first few pages below!

Destiny can’t wait to go for her first ever sleepover at her best friend’s house. But she also can’t help feeling a little worried … they’re going to camp outside in the garden – in a tent – but also in the dark! Destiny uses her trusty sketchbook to doodle her ideas and work through her worries. She even draws some monsters but that makes her feel a bit scared again, so she makes a tent in her room to practice in. When she goes to bed, she hears some noises from the tent and finds a monster inside!

But the monster isn’t frightening. He’s come for a sleepover but he’s not sure he’s ready. Can Destiny help him? After they try midnight snacks, dressing up and telling stories under the stars, Destiny realises there’s nothing to be worried about after all! The next morning, the monster has disappeared, but Destiny is more ready for a sleepover than ever!

Read an extract of Destiny Ink: Sleepover Surprise here:

 

Destiny Ink: Sleepover Surprise will be published on June 6th – you can order a copy from Waterstones here, Bookshop.org here, or from Amazon here. Do let us know on socials what you thought of the first few chapters when you’ve finished reading!

If you’d like to stay up-to-date with all of our latest book news, including exclusive previews, giveaways, award news and more, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

The post Read an exclusive extract of Destiny Ink: Sleepover Surprise by Adeola Sokunbi appeared first on Nosy Crow.

The inspiration behind Bird Boy – a blog by Catherine Bruton

This month we were absolutely delighted to have published Bird Boy – a story of migration, conservation, healing and hope written by author Catherine Bruton. Today we are very excited to be sharing a blog from Catherine, herself, about her inspiration behind the book and the discussion of mental health that is prominent throughout the story.  

“Tell them stories and let them tell their stories. Through stories they can start to heal.”

That was the advice from a Trauma Informed Schools UK training session I attended in 2021. As well as being a writer, I am also a teacher. In my three decades at the chalkface, the exponential rise in mental health issues –affecting children of all ages and backgrounds –  has been heartbreaking to witness. As a children’s author, I believe I have a responsibility to help. Because stories can and do help. Narratives which help  children frame or express difficult experiences and make sense of them allow an outlet for trauma. Through stories, children begin to heal.

And so I came to this story – about a boy who has been cut off from the world and finds it hard to readjust. A boy who is sent to the middle of nowhere to live with an uncle he didn’t even know existed. A story about the healing power of nature. Bird Boy was first inspired by a friend who works with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, using nature therapy  to support traumatised children, including young refugees and asylum seekers. Because research shows that engagement with nature, which includes reading stories about nature, generates calmness, joy, creativity and aids concentration.

Human-animal relationships can also play a key role in children’s lives and in promoting happiness. I have always loved animal stories: Watership Down, Charlotte’s Web, A Kestrel for a Knave, One Hundred and One Dalmations, The Last Bear, When the Sky Falls, Brock, Sky Hawk  ….glorious, beautiful books that made me laugh and cry and which left fossil prints on my heart. Research suggests that stories exploring the special child-creature bond can help young people develop empathy, make emotional connections, understand their own emotions, cope with difficult experiences and make sense of the world.

But why write a book about an osprey? Well, in 2020 I stumbled across the livestream of a Welsh osprey nest. This was the early days of the pandemic. I was stuck in my house, feeling trapped, but that day I sat transfixed watching an osprey egg hatch – and my heart soared. Over the coming months I watched the chicks grow and fledge. When Autumn came, I watched the fledglings finally take the skies and migrate.

That was the magic I wanted to capture in Bird Boy – a story about empty nests and learning to take flight. But a story also about conservation, the importance of caring for the natural world, for protecting endangered species, and learning from nature. How this care is essential for our planet’s continuing health and for our own.

I first read Barry Hines’ A Kestrel for a Knave when I was twelve and cried buckets. I was angry at the ending – it felt so cruelly unfair and wrong.  But there is a beauty in that devastating conclusion which has stayed with me and left an indelible mark on my soul. Because it is an ending which leaves you wanting to change the world – as all the best stories do.

Bird Boy has a more hopeful conclusion. But when they turn the last page, I hope readers might want to change the world too. Because it’s not only birds who migrate. This is also a story about migration. Displacement. Starting again. Losing your home and finding a new one. For Will and for Omar –  a young refugee boy who has fled from Afghanistan  – and for Whitetip. Each of them has been displaced for different reasons, each must learn to adjust to a new environment, each has scars that may never properly heal, each needs to find a new kind of family. And all three help each other.

It has been my privilege to teach refugee children from all over the world – children fleeing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine… Children displaced from their homes, learning to start again, trying to make sense of the past and to build new futures. My book No Ballet Shoes in Syria was written for those children and the millions like them across the world. The letters and messages I have received from young refugees and asylum seekers who have read it reinforces my conviction that stories really do have the power to heal.

Bird Boy was not an easy story to write, but it is one I am immensely proud of and which I hope will touch many hearts. I like to think it’s a combination of Good Night, Mr Tom and A Kestrel for a Knave  – two of my favourite childhood stories –  and  Gill Lewis’ Sky Hawk – my (now very grown up) son’s favourite bedtime tale. The book I’m currently writing (working title Tadpoles!)  tells of a grieving girl, a sick boy and the kid next door who hasn’t been to school for months. Together they find adventure in the tiny plot of grass just outside their window and learn to find the beauty and escape in the smallest natural spaces.  Like Bird Boy, it’s a tale of the healing power of nature, of friendship … and of stories. I hope readers will love both these books as much as I have treasured the writing of them!

The post The inspiration behind Bird Boy – a blog by Catherine Bruton appeared first on Nosy Crow.

Frank and Bert in Opera! a blog by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

We are so happy to have published the newest Frank and Bert title in the series, Frank and Bert: The One With the Missing Biscuits in March – a hilarious picture book series from author Chris Naylor-Ballesteros. Today we are very excited to be sharing a blog from Chris, himself, about a Frank and Bert opera adaptation! 

 

I’ll be honest, “Frank & Bert – The Opera” weren’t words that I expected to hear in the same sentence. So when Richard Whilds of the Bavarian State Opera wrote to me in late 2022 proposing just that, I was amazed. I’d never imagined this kind of adaptation for any of my books and was very excited at seeing how it might develop. Richard had written music for a previous opera for children called Der Mondbär (The Moon Bear) to great success and was looking for a book to base his new work on, telling me “out of a dizzying pile of books, both the director and I had a clear favourite: Frank and Bert.”

 

So the wheels were set in motion and eventually, at the start of March 2024, I made a four-day trip to Munich with a group of English and German friends to see the production on the second day of its run, which would take place in a large room specially adapted to allow children to feel unconfined and free to move around during the performance.

 

The Bavarian State Opera is located in the Munich National Theatre, an imposing building fronted by neo-classical columns and enormous metal doors. Half an hour before the show, one of them swung open and I was greeted by Julia Kessler-Knopp, who is responsible for the opera’s community and children’s work. She showed me in and led me to the performance space, allowing a sneak preview of preparations for the afternoon performance.

 

Seeing the decor was incredible – the landscapes that had been created with pencil and paper in my untidy little home studio had become real objects, a little playground for the actors to run around and hide in. It was all recreated beautifully with knitted grass and flowers, it looked inviting and magical. The set and costume designer Jan Ludwig had worked hard to represent the textures on the page in real-life. The musicians (violin by Gyujeen Han, clarinet by Martina Beck-Stegemann and Markus Schön, drums by Carlos Rubio Amondarain and guitar by Klaus Jackle) were dressed in the same kind of material, allowing them to blend in with the landscape. The musicians and their instruments were mobile so they could play a real part in the action on stage, not just a musical accompaniment.

 

Frank and Bert were performed by Ulrich Reß and Christian Rieger, two of the opera house’s most distinguished singers. Ulrich had even been tempted out of retirement to take on the role of Frank. The rapport between them as the fox and bear duo was lovely to see, playing warm-up games of hide and seek as the audience came into the room and took their places. Their costumes were perfect, all tussled fur and face make-up, with the woolly hat and the scarf they wore designed and made to play the important roles they have in the story, unravelling on cue and being unwound around the whole stage behind the actors’ movements.

 

Richard’s music was wonderful. Though written for a young audience, he intended his compositions to have the flavour and background of opera, rather than that of a stage musical. So the pieces were sophisticated but energetic, playful and very, very catchy. Two of the main pieces were the musical accompaniment to counting to a hundred by both Frank, and then later by Bert. They transformed the long, multi-page enumeration of the book into a joyous sing-along, the children taking part in Frank and Bert’s concentrated struggle to count to such a seemingly huge number.

 

I had an amazing weekend. The opera was a total joy to see and to also spend time in beautiful Munich with friends for the occasion was unforgettable.

 

Thank you to the entire team from the Bayerische Staatoper for making it happen. Hopefully I’ll see them again for the second run next year!

 

Richard Whilds, Composer

There were numerous challenges facing us in transforming this beautiful book into a work for the stage. Separating it into sections comprised of duets, arias and musical interludes was the first. It is always more satisfying to sing verse rather than prose, so that was the second one. The musical side was relatively easy for me because the ying/yang, two-sides-of-a-coin relationship between Frank and Bert led me to some fun and easy musical concepts (Frank has a high voice and Bert a low one) and some rather more pretentious ones that we composers like to indulge in (Frank sings in B flat major and Bert sings in E major and the whole piece jumps backwards and forwards between those keys). I wanted the musicians to not just sit in a corner and accompany but to be an integral part of the action and, therefore, chose instruments that could easily be carried. 

 

Ultimately the greatest inspiration came from the words and drawings in Chris’ book and the rather unexpectedly emotional impact at the heart of it. Perfect for opera!

 

Laura Schmidt, Dramaturg

When my colleague Catherine Leiter, head of our outreach and community department, discovered ‘Frank and Bert’ in a library over a year ago and proposed to adapt it into a little opera for young audiences, we were all thrilled by this beautiful book. It was the start of a wonderful journey into the poetic world of a little fox and a little bear, who are best friends and spend most of their time playing, over and over again. Our composer Richard Whilds, originally from Nottingham in England, contacted Chris and he was very open to the idea of transforming his book into a musical theatre piece. So an exciting creative journey began. Richard, the director Friederike Blum and myself started meeting up together on a regular basis. Richard would compose some music, and we would put some lyrics to it, or sometimes the text came first and Richard would develop the music. It was highly inspiring to share ideas, to listen to the songs together, to reflect on how to transform the book and its story into a stage version in German. Soon Jan Ludwig became part of the team, creating costumes and a set design. As a group we found it essential to celebrate the power of playing and being friends, being empathetic with each other and not focussing on winning or losing or who is ‘stronger’. We wanted to protect this central idea of the book, one that exists in a world of competition and the survival of the fittest and cleverest.

 

Then in February rehearsals started. Four weeks of intense work with our great cast – the two singers, Ulrich Reß and Christian Rieger, and musicians from our orchestra, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. A violinist, a percussion player, a clarinetist and a guest guitarist came together to interpret Richard’s challenging and charming compositions. Once a week different children’s groups joined our rehearsals, to give feedback on what had been developed.

 

At last the opening afternoon arrived. All of us were so grateful to finally be able to present this new piece to a young (and older) audience, after having spent about a year walking around with fantastic Frank and brilliant Bert in our minds and hearts, and to give them a three dimensional life here in Munich, in the world of opera.

The post Frank and Bert in Opera! a blog by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros appeared first on Nosy Crow.