Events

Oct 05

0

Tim Peake to tour UK!

By The Curved House Editor | 4-6 years, 6-8 years, Events, News, Principia Space Diary

Tim Peake

Tim Peake is heading off on his post-flight tour of the UK this month, visiting all four UK national capitals along with Leicester, Manchester, Salford and Glasgow. NASA astronaut and crewmate Tim Kopra will join Tim for the visits to Edinburgh, Belfast and London.

Tim will be giving presentations at each city, giving his first-hand account about life onboard the ISS and talking about the important science experiments he conducted during his mission.

As part of Tim’s Principia mission, the UK Space Agency has invested £3 million in the biggest education and outreach initiative ever undertaken for an ESA astronaut. Over a million young people have taken part including over 60,000 UK school children that participated in our Space Diary programme!

Schedule:

Cardiff: 13 October 2016

Leicester: 14 October 2016

Manchester: 15 October 2016

Glasgow: 16 October

Edinburgh: 17 October

Belfast: 18 October

London: 19 October

Find out further information on the venues and times here.

Jun 14

0

Where to Watch ESA Astronaut Tim Peake Return to Earth

By The Curved House Editor | 4-6 years, 6-8 years, 8+ years, Blog, Events, Principia Space Diary

Saturday 18th June is the big day when Tim Peake returns to Earth after six months on the International Space Station. Tim will return in a Soyuz capsule, along with crewmates Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra. He’s due to land in Kazakhstan at 10.15am BST.

185

Days in Space

Watch the Soyuz undocking, re-entry and landing LIVE

Coverage starts at 4.00am BST on Saturday 18th June. Watch all the key events, from the time Tim enters to Soyuz capsule until he reaches Earth.

Watch Tim Peake's return live on ESA TV Watch Tim Peake return live on NASA TV

Photo: ESA/NASA

Tim Peake in Spacesuit ready for return to earth

When to tune in (BST)

Your quick guide to re-entry timeline shown in British Summer Time (GMT+1)

04:00 Farewell and hatch closing. Crew members will then change into their Sokul spacesuits.

06:15 Soyuz capsule undocks from the ISS.

09:15 Deorbit burn to place Soyuz capsule on its re-entry trajectory.

09:49 Soyuz capsule separates from the orbital module and the heat shield peels away layer by layer.

10:00 Parachutes deploy.

10:15 Soft Landing Engines are fired and the Soyuz capsule lands.

Post-landing schedule (BST)

On landing, the recovery team will help Tim and his crewmates from the capsule. The astronauts will then undergo medical checks.

12:45 Crew will fly in helicopters to Karaganda airport.

14:15-14:45 Crew arrives at Karaganda airport for a welcome ceremony, followed by a press conference.

15:00-16:00 Tim Peake will fly to the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne.[/two_thirds_last]

Landing Parties

Celebrate Tim Peake’s return on Saturday June 18th at one of these exciting events!

London Science Museum (free event)

National Space Centre (£20-25)

Aberdeen Science Centre (£4.50-5.75)

Cambridge Science Centre (£2.50-3.50)

Glasgow Science Centre (£9-11)

Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium (£8.40-12)

Having your own Landing Party?

Good luck Tim, from Simonside School’s Space Diary Apprentices!

If you’re celebrating Tim Peake’s return we would love to see what you get up to! Send us your photos via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and use the #spacediary to make sure we see them! You’ll appear in our Mission Feed alongside all the awesome schools who have been doing their Space Diaries and Principia-related activities. You can also email us at info@curvedhousekids.com. Remember to get parental/guardian permission before you post photos of your students. If you can’t get permissions we’d love to see pictures of their books!

From all of us at Space Diary Headquarters, safe journey back to Earth, Tim Peake, and thanks for sharing your mission with us! #WelcomeHomeTim

Apr 13

0

Curved House Kids goes to Bologna Book Fair!

By The Curved House Editor | 4-6 years, 6-8 years, 8+ years, Blog, Events, News

Going to Bologna I didn’t know what to expect. I knew of course children’s books and illustrators but I never imagined the magnitude of the fair. Before this I had only been in my country’s (Colombia) biggest fair — the Bogotá Book Fair (Filbo) — and in Canada I went to the Toronto Book Fair, both wonderful but very different in size and purpose.

When Kristen and I arrived we immediately felt the joyful energy of this Italian city and were surprised to see how dog-friendly it is. As we walked through it, in less than an hour, we spotted 40 dogs. We knew that this was the place to be.

At the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, creative minds get to show their work and their enthusiasm for their craft. Walking through the stands, we viewed books that have been published all over the world. Where the fair began there were halls filled with the artworks of the selected illustrators, each of them with their own distinguishing style. Germany as the country of honour had a special hall exhibiting their illustrators. Work from this country demonstrated different techniques, from laser cut to fine drawings in black and white, or other illustrations filled with elements and a variety of colors.

Hongchen Yu, China BCBF

Tsutomu Fujishima, Japan BCBF

Michiko Chapuis, Japan BCBF

The fair was huge and I had never been in one of this scale. It had stands for every country; sometimes publishers from a same nationality shared one but in most cases they had their own. As we explored the hallways of the Latin American countries, Chile caught our attention. They produce wonderfully crafted books with talented illustrators, as well as great ideas. The most wonderful surprise was meeting Argentinian publisher Diego Bianki from Pequeño editor, who publishes from the heart and has won prizes at the fair this year and last. Talking to him we saw the passion he has for his craft, which is clear in his books like Tree Book Tree. This is an amazing book that can be planted and a tree will grow out of it. To promote it, he used the motto: books come from trees, today a tree comes from a book.

There were also panels about a variety of topics. We had the chance to listen to some about enriched books and interactive book apps, and how this market has to work to make business model strategies get attention for what they are doing. Now publishers are also creating books with augmented reality. This is a new concept of books that isn’t being used in Colombia but it is a worthy tool that we should be pursuing and discovering. Its possibilities are endless.

The panels weren’t only about technology, and I was especially moved by one about refugees and children’s books. Panelists talked about how stories can help children understand why people leave their countries to live somewhere else and how this feels. It’s not just about understanding but about feeling and evoking emotion. This way real empathy is created and children can start building a better understanding with others. I left this panel with the feeling that these stories are needed all over the world and that they are helpful in all types of environments.

After the panels, we met Verena Pausder from Fox and Sheep, and illustrator Christoph Niemann who had great ideas and advice for Kristen.
I can’t end this blog without mentioning the lovely publishers from Ireland we met who adopted us into their group. They not only make amazing books and have creative initiatives, such as the book clinic, but also have such warm hearts and are very friendly. They truly made this trip to Bologna even better. Children’s Books Ireland, O’Brien Press and Little Island now have a special place in our hearts.
Bologna Book Fair BCBF

Valeria De La Vega is a final year student at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana where she is studying Communications with an emphasis in Publishing. She is interning at the Curved House Kids to learn about publishing children’s books, help translate the books to Spanish and to assist with the development of visual literacy resources.

Apr 23

3

Curved House Kids and House of Illustration announce a new partnership

By The Curved House Editor | Blog, Events, News, Visual Literacy

Islington families invited to create their own stories with House of Illustration and Curved House Kids

Curved House Kids and House of Illustration today announce a new partnership, offering Islington families the chance to publish their own book in an empowering series of workshops, entitled “Our Cally Stories”.

Run as part of Islington Council’s Word15 festival, the 8-week programme will offer hands-on training in understanding visual and written literacy, as well as offering local families unique access to those working in creative sectors.

Commencing today, 23 April 2015, the workshops will be held in Holloway Library, Paradise Park Children’s Centre run by Islington Play Association and House of Illustration’s new Clore Studio at its gallery in King’s Cross.

The programme will map out a typical book development workflow, led and supported by an established author, illustrator and publisher. Young children and their parents will go through the process of planning, writing, editing, illustrating and publishing a professional quality book. Themes will be selected by participants, allowing them to create their own unique stories, and finished books will be produced and shared through local libraries.

House of Illustration and Curved House Kids have come together because of a shared focus on visual literacy, and on using visual tools to empower people to communicate fully in a modern world. This is a guiding principle for the programme, as Kristen Harrison, Publisher at Curved House Kids, explains: “We live in an increasingly visual world, and for the many who struggle with text-based literacy visuals can be extremely effective at breaking down their barriers to reading. We’re thrilled to join forces with House of Illustration, who already have an exceptional education and outreach programme, to provide Islington families with the tools they need to create and share their own stories. ”

The final book will be launched at House of Illustration, at 2 Granary Square in King’s Cross on Thursday 18 June.

—

NOTE TO EDITORS

About Curved House Kids (www.curvedhousekids.com)

The Curved House Kids produce books and downloadable learning materials, and run workshops that inspire primary aged children to read, write and see the world. Curved House Kids projects are based around the idea that visual tools and visual literacy skills can greatly improve a child’s ability to learn and that by making children part of the creative process we cement their learning (and their love for reading and storytelling) from an early age. We recognise that the world around us is now highly visual, digital and interactive and our methods engage with children the way children are engaging with the world.

About House of Illustration (www.houseofillustration.org. uk)

House of Illustration opened the UK’s first gallery dedicated solely to the art of illustration in summer 2014. Through changing exhibitions, events, courses, workshops and competitions it aims to reach audiences of all ages to learn about, participate in and enjoy illustration in all its forms. Our education department has been running since 2009; we have delivered over 40 projects in schools with high indexes of deprivation. Now equipped with a Clore Studio, we hold regular workshops for families, primary & secondary schools and adults. All workshops are delivered by professional illustrators and aim to empower participants of all ages and abilities with new skills, increased confidence, opportunities for creativity and enhanced visual literacy.

About the Word Festival

imgres The Word festival celebrates the transformative power of words through a one year programme of high quality, commissioned arts activities, events and learning opportunities that encourage residents across Islington to develop enjoyment in reading, writing and freedom of expression. The festival is a partnership initiative between Inslington Council’s Library and Heritage Services, Arts Services, All Change and Free Word. Word 2015 will take place between 25 May and 19 June, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND ENQUIRIES

Kristen Harrison
Curved House Kids
+49 176 876 02770
kristen@thecurvedhouse.com
Twitter: @curvedhousekids

Emily Jost
House of Illustration
+44 203 696 2024
emily.jost@ houseofillustration.org.uk
Twitter: @illustrationHQ

Feb 23

3

imagine festival southbank curved house kids

Imagine Festival at the Southbank Centre 2015

By The Curved House Editor | Blog, Events, News

We’re back from a week in London where we took part in the annual Imagine Festival at the Southbank Centre. As part of the ‘Everybody Into Books’ event, organised by Inclusive Minds, we set up a book-making station and had kids help us illustrate and write our books. And this year we also got them to turn us (and themselves) into their favourite characters – everything from hairy monsters to floating mermaids. We made over 20 books throughout the day and are now creating ebooks and uploading them to our Kids Library for you to view and download for free!

This was a special day for books. Inclusive Minds are committed to ensuring all children can access books and see themselves in stories and this event brought together organisations, like ours, that see inclusion as a priority rather than an afterthought. The organisers, Beth and Alex, assembled a panel that included some incredible, smart and articulate young people who openly discussed their experiences growing up in mixed race families and as transgender teens. They pointed out that few, if any, books published in the commercial sector reflect their own experiences and this invisibility can lead to feelings of profound isolation during childhood and adolescence.

Also on the panel was one of our idols, Charlie and Lola creator Lauren Child, who talked about her own approach and that rather than try to introduce diversity for its own sake, she tries to reflect real life and narratives that all children can relate to.

We came away from this day feeling completely energised by the insights of those who spoke, the creativity and enthusiasm of the kids who came and created books with us, and the potential we have to ensure diverse representations of people and circumstances in the characters and stories we create for kids. Until 2016 when we can Imagine again!

Oct 09

0

Five Gems from our first Fun Palace

By The Curved House Editor | Events, News

On October 4th and 5th, Curved House Kids took over a corner of one of our favourite local bookshops, Shakespeare and Sons and turned it into our very own (and Berlin’s very first) Fun Palace. But what’s a Fun Palace? In short, it’s a free space where kids and adults can have fun connecting art and science through games, storytelling and drawing. Fun Palaces is a UK based (but global) initiative based on an original idea from the legendary playwright, Joan Littlewood and transported into the 21st century by Stella Duffy and Sarah Jane Rawlings.

We had a wonderful weekend in our Fun Palace and were delighted to see so many faces, old and young. We discovered Berlin kids know how to put the FUN in Fun Palace, and that their parents can give us a run for our money with singing and dancing along.

For those of you that coudn’t make it, here are five ‘Fun Palace gems’ to give you a peek into what last weekend was like:

1. Rap and Rock(s) definitely go together

Kitty the Crystalizer rapped her heart out with her band, The Rocks. Big shout out to Mini-Metamorphic, a band member of The Rocks who managed to play it mega-cool and sleep through his moment in the spotlight.

2. Learning is it’s own language

Language is no barrier when you’re learning about sound waves and making music. Take eight cups of water, a few German numbers, a poster and some eager volunteers and we had a room full of mini-Mozarts in the making.

3. Breaking the rules is best!

Curved House Kids author Chester Travis’ Picture Poetry session really set the kids imaginations alight. After listening to Chester’s ferocious animal sounds and identifying them, our Fun Palace visitors could create their own mixed-up creations taking the best bits from our animal components. ‘Kick’ was a colorful huge animal that made a mix between a roar and a hiss.

4. The future is bright…

Our Fun Palace mural was a chance for kids to respond to speculative questions about the future. One of them – “show me a world that has never existed” – was enough to get one visitor suggesting “a machine that allows you to learn everything while you sleep”. We are pretty much convinced the kid who came up with this will be a professor one day.

5. …Especially when you come together

Learning is not just about thinking, it’s also about doing and collaborating, and seeing parents and adults getting stuck in and helping their children add to our mural, write raps, dance for our morning warmups and create their own planets for our Saturday planet parade was an inspiring reminder that the Fun Palace isn’t just an idea for kids.

Thank you to Chester Travis, Megan Archer and Timothy Armstrong for sharing your artistic skills and creativity with us and the kids! And a special thanks to photographer Alice Connew for taking so many wonderful Snaps.

Visit the Curved House Kids Facebook Page to see more pics from the event.

Apr 23

0

Chester Travis entertains the BeSmart Academy, Berlin

By The Curved House Editor | Blog, Events, News

Back in December we ran a competition to get kids drawing the cover of My Summer Snowman by New Zealand author Chester Travis. The comp was won by 5-year-old Lilly (then 4) who produced this wonderful drawing that really impressed our judge, illustrator Ben Hawkes.

My Summer Snowman Chester Travis The Curved House Kids

Lilly, aged 4

Lilly’s prize was an author visit by the wonderful kiwi native Chester Travis. We held the event at Shakespeare and Sons in Berlin and Lily bought along her classmates to be entertained and inspired by Chester’s reading. The kids got to illustrate their own page from a book and all took home a copy of one of our books.

Thanks BeSmart academy for a great morning and congrats again to Lilly, keep drawing!

Apr 15

0

The 2014 International Visual Literacy Conference

By The Curved House Editor | Events, Visual Literacy

The Toledo Museum of Art is hosting the 47th Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy (IVLA), this year’s theme being The Art of Seeing: From Ordinary to Extraordinary.

Conference events include Panel Discussions and Paper Presentations to interactive Workshops and Demonstrations which brings together teachers, researchers, students, artists and anyone else with interest in the field of visual literacy to discuss and critique work and practices.

We hope to attend the conference and engage with other thinkers and do-ers, movers and shakers, working in visual literacy education and we’re looking forward to hearing about the outcomes of the various workshops and events.

Head over to the VISLIT resource page as well, for an excellent introduction to visual literacy, perfect for anyone wanting to know how they can improve visual literacy through art.

Parents: Can’t get to Toledo? Don’t worry! There is even a family guide resource so you can explore the museum and visual literacy with the kids without having to leave the house!

http://www.vislit.org/

Apr 02

2

Free Shipping today only to Celebrate International Children’s Book Day

By The Curved House Editor | Blog, Events, News, Uncategorized

international children's book day Whoa! It’s International Children’s Book Day and we are celebrating. Our authors and illustrators are visiting schools in London and Berlin today to make some collaborative books with kids. Meanwhile, over in our shop we are offering FREE SHIPPING anywhere in the world for today only AND we will choose one lucky customer to win one of our hand-printed Pillow Books. How very awesome!

Just in time for Easter so you can pick up some of our Make-Your-Own books to keep the kids busy over the holidays.

Free shipping today only

Visit the Curved House Shop and use this discount code at the checkout:

DISCOUNT CODE: ICBD2014

Remember this is for today only.

Teachers ahoy!

Are you a teacher looking for something to do with your kids today? Here’s our Pirate Power poem that you can download, print and get your kids to illustrate. Don’t forget to upload some pictures to our Kids Gallery – we’d love to see what the kids come up with!

Wishing you all a very happy International Children’s Book Day.

illustrate your own book with curved house kids

Click to Download Pirate PowEnjoy and a very happy International Children’s Book Day to you

Mar 03

2

Make Your Own Book for World Book Day 2014

By The Curved House Editor | Blog, Events, Teaching Resources, Worksheets

Hey, in case you didn’t know, this Thursday, 6th March, is World Book Day and that makes this week World Book Week. Woohoo! What could be better than a week long bonanza of books and stories. How are you celebrating World Book Day? We’re celebrating by visiting some schools, hanging out with awesome kids and by sharing some of our super dooper make-your-own books with you.

Illustrate your own book for World Book Day!

Every day this week we will release a page from our book Pirate Power, written by Kitty Healy. Kitty is a great writer but not the best illustrator, so we need lots of awesome, creative kids to do the drawings.

Download, print and scribble every day and on Friday you will have a complete book of your very own. If you want to display your fine work in our online gallery you can send us a pic or upload it directly to: https://curvedhousekids.com/upload-your-book/.

Get scribbling!

DAY ONE

Click to download the first page of your book

DAY TWO

Click the image below to download the second page of your book!

DAY THREE

Wow, we’re halfway there! Click the image below to download the third page of your book!

DAY FOUR

Come ‘ere me pirate pals, happy World Book Day! Click the image below to download the last page of you book and tomorrow you can download the cover to complete your make-your-own book for World Book Day.

DAY FIVE

You’re nearly there! Now you just need to illustrate your cover, dedicate your book to someone special and then you’re done. Congratulations pals, what an amazing achievement to finish your very own book! Click the image below to download your cover.

Visit the awesome World Book Day 2014 website

Feb 10

1

Primary Literacy Workshops Curved House Kids Make Your Own Books

Pictiur Family Day at the Irish Museum of Modern Art: 11 Jan 2014

By The Curved House Editor | Blog, Events

One of my dreams for Curved House Kids is for it to inspire people to work together to produce and personalise their own books. Whether that’s parents and their children, teachers and their pupils, older siblings and younger siblings, babysitters, guardians, carers… the idea of collaboration is fundamental to all the work I do and especially to Curved House Kids. So it was such a thrill to see one of our books – My Summer Snowman by Chester Travis – featured as part of the Pictiur Family Day at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin. The Family Day was part of the bigger Pictuir children’s book illustration exhibition featuring work by Lily Bernard, Alan Clarke, Olivia Golden, Chris Haughton, Paul Howard, Oliver Jeffers, Chris Judge, Niamh Sharkey and many more amazing Irish artists.

Kids had the opportunity to illustrate their own copy of My Summer Snowman and as we can see from the pictures here there are some brilliant illustrations as a result. But the very best thing about it is seeing families and friends working together on their books – collaborating, sharing and building something special together. Here’s what IMMA said about it:

“My Summer Snowman was integral to a recent event I curated at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) relating to children’s book illustrations and storytelling. The event was in response to an exhibition taking place in the museum at the time of Irish children’s book illustrations called Pictiur, and saw several illustrators, artists and authors working with children and parents to develop their own imagery and stories. My Summer Snowman proved extremely popular on the day, and provided families the opportunity to sit, read and imagine how they might use imagery to represent the story being told. It supported family learning, visual language skills, group work, reflection and developing a child’s imagination. It’s an excellent project and I hope to collaborate with Curved House Kids in the future.” – Katie Fitzpatrick

What an exciting day for our little books. Big thanks to Katy Fitzpatrick and all the fab IMMA staff involved in planning the day.

: Family Day at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)

: Family Day at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)

: Pictuir Family Day, IMMA, Dublin

: Pictuir Family Day, IMMA, Dublin

: Pictuir Family Day, IMMA, Dublin

: Pictuir Family Day, IMMA, Dublin

See more pictures from the day on IMMA’s Facebook page.

Jan 07

0

Reading Images: An introduction to visual literacy

By The Curved House Editor | Advice for Parents, Blog, Events, Teaching Resources, Visual Literacy

“Images are all around us, and the ability to interpret them meaningfully is a vital skill for students to learn.”
– Melissa Thibault and David Walbert, authors of Reading images: an introduction to visual literacy.

Have you heard of “visual literacy”? If you’re a parent or teacher struggling to engage your kids with learning, maybe this is something that can unlock things for you (and for them!). It has worked for us.

The Curved House Kids series of books is based on the belief that some kids are visual learners – they see the world in pictures so by providing books without words we invite them to understand how to interpret images and then use language to express what they see and understand. Similarly, by providing books without pictures we allow kids to reinforce their comprehension and vocabulary by drawing what they read. They are etching knowledge into their brains AND having fun at the same time! This is a visual literacy technique to teach children to read, write and use their imaginations but there are many other ways to use visual literacy in the home or in schools.

If you’re interested in learning more about it and want to try some visual literacy techniques, LEARN NC (a program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education in the US), has put together a good primer on the topic, aimed at educators of students from Kindergarten through 12th Grade (early years through secondary school in the UK). The overview links to a variety of lesson plans on the subject, tagged to note the appropriate grade level for each lesson.

Click here to visit the Learn NC website for lesson plans and other great resources…