Mister Magnolia: Celebrate Quentin Blake’s 90th Birthday

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Using pens or paint and paper, children can make a picture of a favourite part of the story, show their picture to someone else and talk about it. Find the rhyme Mr Magnolia’s trumpet goes ‘rooty-toot’. Can you think of different types of sounds that instruments make? How are these sounds made? I do wonder if a story like this would be published today. When Quentin Blake was creating Mister Magnolia at the end of the 1970s, there were still plenty of men in primary school teaching. The 1980s saw a rapid and permanent exodus of men from teaching as parents became more aware of sex abuse crimes against children. Suddenly, what had earlier been hidden, precisely because it was unthinkable to non-pedophiles, became a fleshed-out fear in the minds of parents, and book-buyers everywhere. Read the story again and leave spaces for children to join in with the story. They can add their own responses to the dramatic events. Tell the story Mr Magnolia’s owls are learning to hoot. Think about the sounds that different animals make. Why do they make different sounds?

Read the story aloud, talking together about the pictures as you do. Encourage children to guess what the rhyming word will be by leaving space for them to join in. They can find clues in the pictures, too. Join in Notice how seldom characters are depicted in long shots minus only their feet. Very seldom. In general, it’s not recommended. It’s not a typical shot at all, and the super careful reader will know even before opening the cover that something’s going on with the guy’s feet. It’s not something we notice consciously, though. Notice that as the fun builds, Mister Magnolia’s pets get more and more unlikely. Okay, we believe he has birds ( another feminine attribute in art is to be surrounded by birds), but eventually we find he has a pet dinosaur (not just an unlikelihood, an impossibility). Peak Fun! What forces are taking place when Mr Magnolia rides his scooter or when he slides down into his pool?After hearing the story a few times, children will get to know it quite well. Encourage them tell it to you in their own words, with some words or phrases from the story, using the pictures to help them. Watch the Story Mister Magnolia has many things, such as an old trumpet that goes rooty-toot, some fat owls, who are learning to hoot, a big purple dinosaur, who's a magnificent brute, two sisters who play the flute, and even a swimming pool with chute! But he still only has one boot! Mr Magnolia’s dinosaur is ‘magnificent’ can you make up a mnemonic to help you remember how to spell this word? Mr Magnolia’s trumpet goes ‘rooty-toot’. Can you think of other words that can be used to describe the sounds that different instruments make? Find out about the author / illustrator, Quentin Blake. What other illustrations has he drawn? Can you try to create a picture in a similar style / using similar techniques? Watch these videos for some ideas:

Mister Magnolia is a picture book written and illustrated by Sir Quentin Blake. It won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1980, and the Red House Children’s Book Award in 1981. This story is an excellent lesson in simplicity. Even the rhyming is simple; everything rhymes with ‘boot’. Boots And Scooters In this wittily rhyming picture book, Mr Magnolia has a full and happy life except for one serious omission – a boot. But one day, he receives a mysterious parcel, and at last, Mr Magnolia can splash in the puddles with everyone else! Teaching Ideas and Resources: English Blake was educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. His English teacher, JH Walsh, influenced his ambition to become involved in literature. His first published drawing was for the satirical magazine Punch, at the age of 16. He read English Literature at Downing College, Cambridge (1953-6), received his postgraduate teaching diploma from the University of London, and later studied at the Chelsea School of Art. He gained another teaching diploma at the Institute of Education before working at the Royal College of Art.In this wittily rhyming picture book, Mr Magnolia has a full and happy life except for one serious omission – a boot. But one day, he receives a mysterious parcel, and at last Mr Magnolia can splash in the puddles with everyone else! marketing copy

Can you plan an investigation to find the best surface for scooting / sliding on? Which one has the most / least friction? Carnivalesque stories look a bit different when the star is a child hero. Below I go into how a carnivalesque story works when the main character is an adult. An Every Child is at home

Don't miss out on the amazing free Quentin Blake Exhibition at Weston Museum, running 4th March to 3rd June 2023.

Children have most likely seen a homeless person in the streets before, and this book can help them to realise that even though homeless people have nothing for themselves, they are still human and have feelings even though some precautions should be taken. It would be worthwhile talking to children about being grateful for what we have because we could lose it all one day. Quentin was the inaugural Children's Laureate (1999-2001), an experience he recorded in his book Laureate's Progress. During his time in the role, he celebrated children's books and children's book illustration with a range of projects and exhibitions, and conceived the idea for the House of Illustration, the world's first centre dedicated to the art of illustration in all its forms.

A fun picture book will very likely have a carnivalesque story structure, so that’s what I’m using here to analyse the story. See if you can make up a new story about Mr Magnolia together. Perhaps beginning ‘ Mr Magnolia had only one shoe….’You can play with the rhyme, taking it in turns to invent a new line. Avoiding the climactic joke, the romp in this book ends with a girl gifting Mister Magnolia a boot. Quentin Blake slows down the pace and builds up suspense as Mister Magnolia slowly opens his gift. (That’s why we wrap gifts in the first place, right? Suspense!) Make up a rhyme / story which explains what happens to the matching boot that Mr Magnolia is missing. An adult character doesn’t require a Cat In The Hat figure to accompany them on their journey into fun because an adult has all the freedom they need to leave the house, live on their own, etc. Mister Magnolia’s ‘allies in fun’ are children. Hierarchy is overturned. Fun ensues.