Gaspard the Fox

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individual lessons with accompanying short videos, written and presented by Lucy Drever, and focusing on various aspects of the programme. Teacher CPD Session: Wednesday 24March 4-5.30pm

The endpapers provide fox facts and all the places of interest along the route. This wonderful illustration posed quite a challenge for illustrator, James Mayhew, as he painstakingly recreated each side street and landmark to accurately represent the bus route from Islington to Hyde Park. Fans of Mayhew’s hugely successful and utterly delightful Katie books (including Katie In Londonand Katie’s London Christmas) will be delighted with this new journey through the capital. It’s a story about friendship and being accepted for who you are. Gaspard makes two new friends: Peter the Cat, who has cultivated his own unique identity and a dog named Finty that, instead of chasing Gaspard away (as you’d expect), thinks it’s brilliant to have a fox as her friend. Not everyone thinks Foxes are welcome in the city, so there are kind and unkind humans in the book and I hope children will see how wonderful and exciting it is to share the urban environment with all living creatures. Gaspard is undoubtedly a handsome fox, in life as in the story but there is a prominent tear through one ear. Gaspard isn’t perfect and that’s an important message too. What is it like seeing your story illustrated with such beautiful, warm artwork by James Mayhew? What was your working relationship like? What do you think James’s illustrations add to the story?I don’t like feeling I’m being preached at, so I hope the themes in the Gaspard books are almost homeopathic … just there, running throughout. Allowing children to develop skills and techniques that are relevant to specific art forms and across the four expressive arts capacities.

Providing opportunities for children to deepen their understanding of culture in Scotland and the wider world. The vocabulary is delightfully challenging. Phrases such as ‘civilise the bees’ and ‘brightly lit signs enticed tourists’, make this a joy to read aloud and ideal for enriching children’s own writing. The story really does read well. I laughed out loud when Peter, who is my favourite character (as both a cat lover and a lexophile!), fell off the sofa in surprise to see his fox pal take the stage. The RSNO National Schools Concert Programme introduces thousands of primary school pupils across Scotland to classical music each year through a series of live concerts, in-school workshops, accompanying learning resources, and CPD sessions for teachers. Described by the Telegraphas ‘the go-to person for music narration’,Zeb performs with the UK’s leading orchestras, narrating children’s classics such as Peter and the Wolfand technically demanding works such as Walton's Façadewhich he recorded to critical acclaim with John Wilson. This title provides a model for the teaching of literacy, art and music – now that is the kind of 3 for the price of 1 we all want on our bookshelves! A super next read for fans of The Queen’s Hatby Steve Antony (which was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra) and the perfect bridging text to Peter and the Wolf. At a time when staycations and outdoor performance are gaining enormous popularity, this is a timely tale to encourage children to enjoy the arts in any way available to them. So join with us and ‘civilise’ the next generation by immersing them in the words, art and music of this incredible picture book that will inspire a lifelong love of culture in all its many facets.Introducing children to classical music in their formative years, nurturing their creativity and well-being. Radio 4 announcer and author Zeb Soanes based his titular fox on a real urban fox that visits him regularly at his home in London. Gaspard first appeared with an injured leg, and Zeb fed the fox until he recovered … but he had become a regular feature at this point, appearing whenever he heard him return on his bicycle in the evening. Then, one evening, Gaspard revealed that ‘he’ was actually ‘she’ when she brought her cubs to visit him!

Ensuring that pupils can benefit from the positive holistic impact on learning and engagement that musical education can bring. Gaspard remains a ‘he’ in the series of books, and in the first one, we follow in Gaspard as he embarks on his first adventure, meeting neighbourhood cat Peter (aka Fluffy – to his horror) and Finty, the feisty escapee dog, on her way. He discovers the delights of leftovers from a festival on the canal, and glows in the friendship offered by other local animals who, contrary to popular belief, don’t really seem to mind foxes all that much. It is easy to see why, in James Mayhew’s sensitive and delightful illustrations, which capture Gaspard’s unique personality so well. Who could not fall in love with such a beautiful fox? James makes all his illustrations with traditional tools, mainly using pen and ink, and watercolours. He created his own new shade of ink especially for teh Gaspard the Fox books, which he calls ‘Gaspard Red’. Without giving too much away, can you tell us a bit more about Gaspard the Fox and what inspired this story? CookieYes sets this cookie to record the default button state of the corresponding category and the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.Charlotte’s Web comes instantly to mind from my childhood reading; where a spider saves a pig from being killed by weaving inspirational messages into her web above the pig-sty. It’s a beautiful story. Digital concert films, to watch in the classroom, in multiple languages including British Sign Language, Gaelic, French, Polish, Chinese, Urdu, Romanian and Arabic. Brought to life by Jonathan Dove’s wonderful composition, Gaspard’s latest adventure is the perfect introduction to classical music for primary school pupils in P3 – P6. The landmarks Zeb and James decided to show are not the usual tourist attractions and give a really authentic feel to the ‘real’ London such as the beloved James Smith & Sons umbrella shop in Bloomsbury and the Pyramid spire with a unicorn statue! The story provides both a visual treat and a historic journey through London’s capital. Lucy Drever will host two live sessions online in advance of the concert! Expect fun and games, links to the resources, what to expect from the concert and some special RSNO guests.