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Step into the world of Quentin Blake this Christmas with BBC Teach
On Tuesday 17 December, a BBC Teach Live Lesson will invite primary schools to dive into the magical world of Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures.
The lesson will focus on Blake’s classic book, Zagazoo. It’s the story of a happy couple, Bella and George, whose world is turned upside down when they receive a parcel containing a baby. Zagazoo unexpectedly transforms into a series of badly behaved animals, mirroring the various tricky stages of childhood.
Together with presenters, Rhys Stephenson and Laura Hopkinson, children will explore the hidden meanings that illustrations can reveal about book characters. They’ll also learn some simple drawing techniques with the help of comic book artist, Vivian Truong, and children’s book Illustrator, Dapo Adeola. By the end of the 30-minute programme, they will have created their very own Zagazoo character, inspired by Blake’s work.
Sophie Stericker, a spokesperson for Quentin Blake, said: “Quentin is delighted that his characters from the BBC Box of Treasures animation of Zagazoo will be the focus of a BBC Live Lesson. He said it was so "enjoyable to see characters from his books jumping off the pages and onto the television screen”, and now they will be jumping off the screen back onto paper, created by children all over the country. What could be better!”
Alex Harris, Executive Producer of BBC Teach, said: “We’re passionate about bringing education and creativity together in meaningful ways and there’s no better way to do this than through the timeless magic of Quentin Blake’s work. Since its debut last Christmas, Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures has been a great success and it’s brilliant to be able to expand this beyond the animated films and into the classroom for schoolchildren across the UK to enjoy. Bringing this exciting Live Lesson to audiences alongside the brand-new Box of Treasures films on iPlayer is fantastic – there’s truly something for everyone!”
The Live Lesson will be available from 9am on the BBC Teach website and broadcast on CBBC and iPlayer at 11am. It will be available on-demand on BBC Teach once the programme ends. A teaching guide and activity sheets to accompany the lesson will be available ahead of the broadcast.
Schools, don’t forget to email your shout-outs to live.lessons@bbc.co.uk with Quentin Blake as the subject.