Clerkenwell students' book on display at the British Library
Year Three students from
Clerkenwell Parochial Primary School have produced their very own version
of the Steadfast Tin Soldier, a Hans Christian Anderson story. The children
worked with three artists on the project and learnt literary research and
creative writing skills and how to illustrate and bind story books.
The book is currently on display at the British
Library as part of their Bicentennial exhibition, and is also part of the
Hans Christian Anderson exhibition at the Finsbury Library.
The aim of the nine day project was to run a series of interdisciplinary
workshops incorporating skills in literacy, visual art, and design technology.
Writer Cheryl Moskowitz introduced the Steadfast Tin Soldier to the children
in their first session. Each child then wrote small character speeches in the
guise of the tin soldier. Working in small groups, the children retold the
story section by section.
Artist and filmmaker Magnus Irvin led the illustration workshops. These gave
the children the opportunity to unleash their visual imagination. The
production of so many drawings introduced an unforeseen element to the
project; how to select which ones to include in the book? Magnus encouraged
the children to engage in the selection process, thereby adopting editorial
roles. The illustrations in the book were entirely selected by the children
from a democratic vote!
Finally, artist Steven Malies led the book binding workshops. Steven
introduced examples of different binding materials and techniques. The
children began by making small notebooks using dental floss to bind them
together.
‘I liked it when we used dental floss to bind the book – that was really
cool’, said 8 year old Tilly Scott from Clerkenwell Parochial School.
Asked if he thought that working with writers had improved his work, 8 year
old Milo Burke from Clerkenwell School said: ‘My writing is neater, with
better spelling and the writers helped us to use more interesting words to
describe the story.’
“The children’s enthusiasm for every aspect of this project was overwhelming
and the beautiful result shows how this story is still inspiring readers more
than 150 years after it was written,” said Councillor Laura Willoughby,
Executive Member for Communities.
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