We were delighted to have a real VIP
visitor on Tuesday, when one of the most loved bears visited in person as guest
of honour at our teddy bear’s picnic.
In fact, Old Bear is now so old he very
rarely makes a guest appearance, so Mostly Books felt particularly honoured
that such a venerable bear made such a very long journey from Jane’s home in
Sussex (and also very grateful to Jane for making such a long journey and
bringing us all her delightful characters).
Old Bear was her very own bear. She had
studied on an illustration and design course and worked as a teacher, but
started drawing Old Bear when she had free moments after she started a family.
She finally found a publisher who was interested in publishing her stories and
quickly found readers who loved the books.
Old Bear was quickly joined by other
characters – Hoot the owl, Little Bear – and her most recent creations – Ruby,
Blue and Blanket. In the eighties the characters featured on everything from
jigsaws to china figures.
Our audience featured lots of children and
plenty of mums who had loved the books when they were young, as well as some new
fans. And lots of sandwiches, cake and much-loved teds.
It was a glorious day and we were extremely
lucky as a torrential downpour in the morning had flooded the garden and threatened
our plans to be outside. We spent a good hour trying to clear all the water!
But luckily the sun shone again and the weather was perfect by the time the
picnic started.
Jane brought along all the original
characters for us to meet and all of them had their own story of where they had
all come from and how they ended up with starring roles in her books.
The stories would make a book in
themselves.
It was as delightful a way to spend an hour
as you could possibly have.
Her books are popular the world over and
were made into an animated television series and they have been praised not
only for their charming stories and colourful pictures, but also use of texture
and perspective.
It was great that Jane also gave us an
insight into how the books come to life.
She explained how she first writes the
stories and then uses the characters to set up the scenes that will appear
alongside the text, sometimes using pins, hooks and threads if the characters
need to be in action or flying.
It was a unique insight into the meticulous
attention to detail that goes into producing children’s book. It really gave an
idea of how much work goes into the books, but also why they seem so full of
life and texture. There are really no other books like them.
With an audience from babes in arms, they
appeal to a great range of ages. Now celebrating twenty-five years since being
published, the Old Bear stories will now be delighting a whole new generation
of children.
(Want to get a parent's view on the event - visit Child-Led Chaos's report on the day, and also visit Jane Hissey's own website for much more on the story behind Old Bear)
