Comments on: I’m in love with the monkey’s uncle: or the power of music and books to build emotional associations, (with help from The Beach Boys and The Fendertones!) /2013/05/im-in-love-with-the-monkeys-uncle-or-how-the-power-of-music-and-books-to-build-emotional-associations-with-help-from-the-beach-boys-and-the-fendertones/ Supporting children's language, communication and learning Wed, 24 Sep 2014 07:59:10 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.3 By: Michael Jones /2013/05/im-in-love-with-the-monkeys-uncle-or-how-the-power-of-music-and-books-to-build-emotional-associations-with-help-from-the-beach-boys-and-the-fendertones/#comment-1939 Mon, 13 May 2013 19:21:27 +0000 /?p=614#comment-1939 Hi Karen
I put the Bowie link in for a bit of fun. I was a huge fan when I was 15 to 16 but didn’t get the Diamond Dogs and Young Americans stuff. It took me a while to realise that he’s really an actor. We loved Top of the Pops and the weekly chart rundown, and it all came in very handy when I was 18 and worked with a teenager with learning disability who has a tremendous memory and loved to talk about the charts. We were totally on the same wavelength, which was great.
I did get to meet a six year old boy who was fascinated by opera.
I had a tank top too!
Best wishes
Michsel

]]> By: Michael Jones /2013/05/im-in-love-with-the-monkeys-uncle-or-how-the-power-of-music-and-books-to-build-emotional-associations-with-help-from-the-beach-boys-and-the-fendertones/#comment-1938 Mon, 13 May 2013 19:10:50 +0000 /?p=614#comment-1938 Hi Barbara!!
Star Wars is really popular with some children, and is often a passion they share with their dads! Lego figures have really taken off in a big way too. I’m not a real fan of either, but make it my business to know as much as I can so that I can have informed conversations. I’m not a huge Disney fan, but so many children and adults have grown up with the films, images and music that they are part of children’s cultural heritage (and that is something to children of all cultures, so it’s important for us to share that.
Best wishes
Michael

]]> By: Michael Jones /2013/05/im-in-love-with-the-monkeys-uncle-or-how-the-power-of-music-and-books-to-build-emotional-associations-with-help-from-the-beach-boys-and-the-fendertones/#comment-1937 Mon, 13 May 2013 19:05:10 +0000 /?p=614#comment-1937 Hi Patricia
Thank you for your kind comments. Children are very impressionable, and live in a sensory world.books and music are so important, and the illustrations are often vital for the impression a good book makes. The Tiger Who Came to Tea seems to appeal to children and adults alike, though I have to admit never did anything for me.
However I loved Edward Ardizzone’s illustrations and was quite scared of Arthur Rackham’s work.
‘Goblin Market’ by Eleanor Farjeon still really bothers me.
Best wishes
Michael

]]> By: John Rice /2013/05/im-in-love-with-the-monkeys-uncle-or-how-the-power-of-music-and-books-to-build-emotional-associations-with-help-from-the-beach-boys-and-the-fendertones/#comment-1929 Mon, 13 May 2013 10:10:50 +0000 /?p=614#comment-1929 A friend of mine, a former headteacher with a wealth of experience and blessed with the wisdom of Solomon, often refers to ‘the thousand story’ gap. When four year olds enter school some will bring with them no knowledge of story, indeed some have to be taught what a book is for. Others will have had a bedtime story, perhaps two, every night for the past three years, hence a thousand stories.

]]> By: Patricia Blakey Lodge /2013/05/im-in-love-with-the-monkeys-uncle-or-how-the-power-of-music-and-books-to-build-emotional-associations-with-help-from-the-beach-boys-and-the-fendertones/#comment-1926 Mon, 13 May 2013 09:35:50 +0000 /?p=614#comment-1926 Dear Michael, I just want to say that I really look forward to getting these posts, and always enjoy reading them, as they are so individual and interesting-I wish more people would give their comments.
This latest one made me think about how important books are to me, not just the contents but how they look, the print choice, the illustrations, the quality of the paper, and how this was started for me in childhood by the books my mother and I chose for me (and thus led me to get jobs in publishing houses reading, proof-reading, etc., when I left university). It probably also led to my interest in art and art history…it’s only an interest and an A level, not a career, obviously, I’m a practitioner, but it all goes to show that a book or two with pixies in it (was yours illustrated by Hilda Boswell, by any chance?) can really have an impact on, or bring out, whichever, your personality.

]]> By: Barbara /2013/05/im-in-love-with-the-monkeys-uncle-or-how-the-power-of-music-and-books-to-build-emotional-associations-with-help-from-the-beach-boys-and-the-fendertones/#comment-1915 Sun, 12 May 2013 20:53:47 +0000 /?p=614#comment-1915 I had an interesting conversation with a four year old boy last week. He informed me that he four today and that he was having Star Wars presents. I commented that I had Lego Star Wars on the XBox. My street cred. Immediately went up several points and from that point was a friend he could talk to. The conversation took off until he asked if I knew the Darth Vader song. Thinking that he had made up his own song I replied ‘No’. ‘Would I like him to sing it’ ‘ yes please’ I said. He then went on to hum the music from the film, persevering until he completed the whole movement ‘Dum,dum,dum,dah,dah,dum,dah, dah,,dum…… I know from my own experience with my own sons that this song and story will stay with him into adulthood. It may not be one of the classics but it gave him and I a common meeting point through which we could share talk and ideas. A special experience for me and I hope the same for him.

]]> By: Karen Jones /2013/05/im-in-love-with-the-monkeys-uncle-or-how-the-power-of-music-and-books-to-build-emotional-associations-with-help-from-the-beach-boys-and-the-fendertones/#comment-1906 Sun, 12 May 2013 14:44:17 +0000 /?p=614#comment-1906 All so true as always, Michael.

On this subject I checked out the bowie link and was taken back to my own childhood, I loved Bowie but had no idea what he was singing about,it didn’t matter, I thought his voice was great and those eyes! Just watching the link bought back memories of that time and remembering the tank tops just like the girls in the video. This then opened the flood gates and one qmemory led to another. My nan knitted the tank tops, my sister and I had matching tank tops …… And on it goes.

Thanks for the happy trip down memory lane, I hope my children and the ones I work with can look back on aspects of their childhood with such fondness,

Kindest regards
Karen

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