Author Patrick Ness is setting young people a monster writing challenge inspired by his novel turned stage show, A Monster Calls. A Monster Calls. Image by Manuel Harlan His 2011 book for young adults has sold over a million copies and garnered huge...
Ever since the colourful promotional posters went up in The Lowry, my 6-year-old nephew has been itching to see What the Ladybird Heard live. We’ve been months in the waiting – The Lowry is the final stop on a tour running since January. However...
It feels a natural progression these days for popular children’s books to make their way to the stage, especially when the author is Julia Donaldson. Tall Stories, whose previous productions at the Lowry include Donaldson’s The Gruffalo and Room on...
Rudyard Kipling’s collection of short stories, ‘The Jungle Book’ has been enchanting children for more than 100 years. Today most people know his famous characters, Mowgli, Baloo and Shere Khan, from the Disney adaptations – a cartoon...
One of the great beauties of circus is its ability to cross boundaries of language, age and, for many of us, what we might imagine is physically possible. In the Little Mermaid, the multi-talented Metta theatre team use their circus skills to push...
In 2009, Hollie Steel was the little girl with the big voice, who won a place in the final on Britain’s Got Talent. Now, aged 19, she is the star of a new children’s Christmas show from Salford-based company, Colour the Clouds, the first festive...
It’s hard to imagine The Gruffalo as a little-known story. Axel Scheffler’s illustrations for Julia Donaldson’s children’s book are instantly recognisable. Even if you haven’t read it, you can’t escape the mythical creature who has since become an...
Everyone loves a good underdog story. Throw in cute kids, catchy tunes, a real-life pooch, and you’ve got a tale to leave no heart-string un-pulled. Writer, Debbie Isitt knows how to pen a winner. Currently working on the fourth installment of her...
Have you seen the Stick Man? I must be the only person in the theatre who hadn’t, which is why I massively under-estimated this character’s popularity when the show first visited the Lowry a year or so ago. As I was to learn from my nephew – his...
When Edith Nesbit was four-years-old her father died suddenly, ending the idyllic security of her childhood. In many ways, The Railway Children is the story of her life as she would like it to have worked out. Written at the turn of the 20th...
Carmel Thomason
