The next couple of months sees a whole host of top sporting events in GB including the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games, held at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to celebrate the triumphs of London 2012.

Re-live the magic of London 2012 with us – borrow our two Touch to See Book Club titles on the Olympics and Paralympics.  Introduced by Olympic legend, Sir Matthew Pinsent, these are part of the sustainable legacy of the Games.  Read more about the content of the books.

We’ve also got a  collection of exclusive interviews that Clare Balding conducted for us with sporting greats including Beth Tweddle, Rob Tarr and Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson.

Watch and listen on our YouTube channel

Our Super Transport book for children is in production and coming to the library soon.  Amongst other forms of transport it features the sports hovercraft and there’s also this fantastic tactile image of the Lotus Sports Pursuit Bike plus loads of facts about the sport of cycling.

Ring us now on 01635 299771 to order your books or do it online here

Local libraries up and down the country have organised a variety of book themed events to inspire all of us who love to; get lost in a good book; find ourselves on a fantastical journey; pin down the facts or learn something new.

Are you blind or partially sighted, or know someone who is? Then why not check out this handy list to find out what is happening in your area during Make a Noise in Libraries Fortnight.

Here is our pick of libraries that are featuring events and hands-on displays of our unique Touch to See Books for blind and partially sighted adults;

Portsmouth Library, Hampshire, telephone 0239 282 99 23
Barnsley Central Library, South Yorkshire, telephone 01226 773 911
AK Bell Library, Perth, Scotland, 01738 477 021

At Worthing Library in Sussex, Charles Waring (Living Paintings supporter and director of the Voice of Progress) will be talking about our charity and will have a range of our great titles for hands-on activities and exploration. Joining Charles will be local musician David Hay, and there will be poetry from Wendy Greene and Marion Sharville, from the Roundabout Poets, giving their take on making a noise in libraries. Marion says she is, “very interested in appearing as she is visually impaired herself”. This fun celebration is at Worthing Library on June 8th at 10.30am – 12.30pm. If you would like to attend please phone the library for full details on 01903 704809.

Here are our Top 5 Ways to Make a Noise in Libraries

1. Libraries can set up a Touch to See Book Club. Our unique clubs up and down the country help to regularly bring together blind and partially sighted people within your local community, for them to enjoy a social gathering with an interesting purpose. From Living Paintings’ Library you can borrow Touch to See books that have been specially designed for a group of blind and partially sighted people to share and explore when they meet up. There is a wide variety of titles to choose from, including ‘What’s Cooking’ and ‘Shakespeare’s Kings & Heroines’. Click here for more details on how we can help your local library set up a Touch to See Book Club.

2. Mums & dads can get kids to love reading with our Touch to See Picture Books – all come with tactile colour pictures, Braille and atmospheric audio guides. We have adapted over 150 of the best loved children’s picture books, including Charlie & Lola, The Gruffalo, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Elmer and Spot. There is something for every child to enjoy in our picture book library. Click here for more details.

3. Check out our ‘Great Books for Boys’ video on our YouTube channel. Click here to watch our reviews of a variety of Touch to See books that you can borrow from our library. In keeping with the noisy theme – there are rockets, goal scoring and train engines to enjoy. We feel our pick of books for boys will be sure fire hits with those struggling to get to grips with reading or needing some inspiration.

4. Use one of our books as the starting point for a tactile craft session for children.  For example, ‘The Loon on the Moon’ by Chae Strathie, contains four brilliant raised images of ‘out of this world’ zany aliens.  Read the book, explore the pictures and then try and make your very own space creature out of scraps of material and junk modelling bits. Click here for Chae Strathie’s Guest Blog Post.

5. Make a noise! Older children don’t need to feel left out.  Why not borrow our ‘World Music’ book and use it for inspiration to form your own band.  You could even organise an impromptu jamming session – you don’t need fancy instruments as upturned bins, saucepans or bottles make interesting percussion sounds.  That way you can really make some noise! Click here to hear our African drumming session and a preview of ‘World Music’.

Are you getting involved, or have you organized a fun and noisy event? Tell us what you are doing for Make a Noise in Libraries Fortnight via twitter @LivingPaintings or leave a comment on this page.

Here’s the story in James’ own words and pictures -

“My name is James. I am twelve years old. I have been learning Braille for nearly two years. I like using the Take Off reading scheme. I enjoy Living Paintings as well. When I get a new book I like to feel all the different pictures.

I asked my teacher if we could have a coffee morning to raise money for Living Paintings.

Last Thursday we had our coffee morning in our Enhanced Resource Base. We invited parents and staff. The staff in the ERB made the cakes. Some of the staff, students and my mum made the coffee and sold the raffle tickets. My job was to draw the raffle.

Lots of people came staff, ex students, parents and pupils from the ERB. On the TV we showed the DVD, so everyone could know about Living Paintings. We had a good time and I even got to have a cup of tea. We raised £208.83.

Your books help me to learn and I love the feely pictures best. I hope you enjoy the pictures I have sent you. There is one of me drawing the raffle.”

Pictured below, James drawing the raffle.

Pictured below, James enjoying a cup of tea with his mum. 

Pictured below, people enjoying James’ coffee morning and a table full of lovely cakes.

Cyra Blackman, James’ teacher said,

“…as a teacher the tactile and audio books are such a good resource. I love them! Keep up the good work!…”

Pictured below, lots of big smiles at James’ coffee morning.

We can only ‘keep up the good work’ with the help of donations and fundraising activities like James’ coffee morning. Are you inspired by James’ story? Do you want to help raise funds for Living Paintings, so that we can make more fantastic tactile and audio books for James to borrow and enjoy?

Click here to donate now.

Or email info@livingpaintings.org with your fundraising idea - whether you want to jump out of a plane or have a cake sale – and we will support you all the way.

We can’t wait to hear from you and find out how you would like to help our charity create more success stories.

Pictured below, a lady enjoying ‘Wonder Goal!’ tactile and audio book at James’ coffee morning.

Why we’re making culturally relevant, inspirational, lifestyle tactile and audio books for blind and VI young people.

It is not easy negotiating the pitfalls of adolescence when you’ve got the added problem of not being able to participate fully in the visual world. A big part of finding your ‘tribe’ of friends when you’re young has to do with sharing common interests.  Social media plays a huge part in the way young people communicate – they are rarely apart as even when they’re physically separated they can still hang out in a virtual sense via Twitter, Facebook and Skype.  For blind and visually impaired teenagers the barriers preventing them from plugging into this visual and online world can seem insurmountable. 

How can a blind teenager experiment with fashion and create their own style when they can’t see all the options and inspirations? Much of our daily conversations rely on cultural references – we use lines from famous films; we talk about soap opera storylines, iconic theatre or must-see musicals; we refer to famous works of art or controversial buildings and iconic sporting moments.  Some blind teenagers struggle with these constant references and can sometimes feel excluded.

Fashion, Football, Food and more…

We’re producing a range of Touch to See books covering some of those areas which blind teenagers really want to know about including Theatre, Film, Music, Fashion, Football, Art, Architecture, Astronomy and Food.  These are inspirational tactile & audio guides which also include plenty of practical advice, tips and positive guidance.  For example, the Fashion book is divided into decades and at the end of each one there’s practical advice on how to achieve the look be it 60s beatnik or a 70s hippie vibe. The Theatre book talks about iconic plays and playwrights but also includes interviews with people in the business.

Our Football book provides masses of information, vital stats, history and anecdotes plus exclusive interviews with people in the world of Football including an England and premiership player. It is these added elements which make our books extra special and culturally relevant for blind and visually impaired teenagers.

One of the first publciations in our Teenagers’ range is  ABC UK  - a vibrant look at some of the cultural influences that have shaped the UK today from The Beatles to Punk Rock, Sherlock to Shakespeare, Nessie to the Notting Hill Carnival.  We used the fabulous illustrations in the book as the starting point to talk about lots of elements of life in the UK such as popular music, myths, history, food, drink and sport.

#InspiringBlindTeenagers

Producing books which are tailor-made for the very specific needs of blind and visually impaired teenagers is what makes Living Paintings work unique and valuable. By giving them a handle on the visual and cultural references which sighted people take for granted we’re helping them become more integrated with their social circles.  Blind and visually impaired teenagers do achieve amazing things and with the extra help and inspriration provided by our Touch to See books the sky’s the limit.

Join the conversation on Twitter @LivingPaintings #InspiringBlindTeenagers

When I was first asked to look at the story ‘Flying Diggers’ by Ian Whybrow I was thrilled. I’ve worked with Ian on several picture books before. The first was called ‘Jump In’ and marked a turning point in my career as an illustrator. Up to that point the majority of projects I was being offered to illustrate were generally ‘safe and sensible!’ Of course, as a fledgling illustrator of children’s books (at the time), I was happy to say ‘yes’ to anything! But, as I say, when I read ‘Jump In’ I was very excited. Suddenly, I realized that ‘stories’ could be very silly and extremely fun to draw. The text was an illustrator’s dream; a joyful, bouncy rhyming text with plenty of scope for me to stretch my wings creatively and draw some very silly pictures indeed.

So, as you can imagine, it was even easier for me to say ‘yes’ when, following the success of ‘Jump In’, I was asked to work on a follow up title with Ian called ‘All Change’. It was an equally delightful text.

A few years passed and Ian came back to me with a third book. A younger book with different characters this time, called ‘Gently Bently’. By now I knew that anything with Ian’s name on it was worth a look! However, by 2000 I was writing and illustrating my own texts so it was a good few years before Ian and I had another opportunity. That time came when he contacted me again with the wonderful ‘Flying Diggers’. Another fantastical text, reminding us sensible adults just how easy it is for children to lose themselves in their own worlds of imagination. Oh, happy days!

And if the experience of working with Ian for a fourth time wasn’t enough I am absolutely delighted that Living Paintings have chosen this book to be part of their incredible library. This is not the first time Living Paintings have come-a-calling. They did an incredible job with a previous book of mine called ‘Just Like My Mum’. This was very special to me for a number of reasons.

I’ve always had an infinity with charities relating to blind and partially sighted but in recent years it has touched me personally. My mother, who passed away two years ago, was a life long passionate lover of books. Growing up I remember her always with her nose in a book; more often than not an Agatha Christie. For many years we had a large bookshelf that groaned under the weight in testimony to her devotion to her novels. Well in the last two decades of her life my mother was diagnosed with macular degeneration, which meant that she slowly lost her ability to read books altogether. She found this very hard indeed. Eventually she was registered blind, although she always had some shadowy peripheral vision.

However, we discovered that the RNIB produced audiobooks which were an absolute life line for her remaining years. I cannot emphasise that enough. So when I was made aware of Living Paintings and the incredible work they do the rest is history! Well, thank goodness that such charities exist. I’m thrilled that ‘Flying Diggers’, as well as all the titles Living Paintings produce, can be enjoyed by everyone, be you visually impaired or not.

Thank you Living Paintings!

Living Paintings is currently creating a Touch to See version of Flying Diggers by Ian Whybrow and David Melling.

Click here to search and borrow David Melling’s books from our free postal library for blind people in the UK.

If you enjoyed reading this click here to read Ian Whybrow’s Guest Blog and click here to read author Chae Strathie’s Guest Blog.

Delve into our collection of masters including van Eyck, Vermeer, Rubens and van Gogh. We have the following as tactile pictures and atmospheric audio descriptions, for anyone who is blind or partially sighted to borrow from our free library now.

works by Peter Paul Rubens
Samson and Delilah
The Family of Jan Brueghel the Elder
The Rainbow Landscape

works by Jan Vermeer
A Young Woman Standing at the Virginals
A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman
View of Delft by Jan Vermeer

works by Rembrandt
A Woman Bathing in a Stream
Man in Armour
The Shipbuilder and his Wife

works by Anthony van Dyck
Equestrian Portrait of Charles I
The Five Eldest Children of Charles I

works by Vincent van Gogh
Sunflowers
Self Portrait with a Bandaged Ear
Postman Roulin
Chair and Pipe

other famous and well loved favourites in our collection include,
The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck
Dutch Interior by Peter de Hoogh
The Avenue, Middelharnis by Meindert Hobbema
The Castle at Bentheim by Jacob Ruisdael
Landscape with the Flight into Egypt by Pieter Brueghel
The Threatened Swan by Jan Asselijn
The Young Bull by Paulus Potter
The Gust by Willem Van de Velde

Catch The High Art of the Low Countries on BBC4, presented by Andrew Graham Dixon, which features many of the masters in our collection. Dixon’s presenting is passionate, brimming with historical context, anecdotes and insightful stories. He travels through the low countries visiting churches, houses, museums and other locations with enthusiasm – so much so that it makes you want to visit.

No problem, just hop on the Eurostar at St Pancras! If you want to ramble in Rubens’ ‘Rainbow Landscape’ or venture in Vermeer’s Delft check out these video guides from Lonely Planet that give you tips on the low countries, capital cities and environs. Listen to Lara, from the Lonely Planet, as she takes us through the elegant but shabby, rough but refined streets of Brussels. Listen to Amy, from Lonely Planet, as she takes us on an insider’s tour of Amsterdam.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam re-opens this week after 10 years of renovation and in some ways it’s been re-invented too. You can now explore 800 years of Dutch history retold in more than 8,000 objects in the 80 galleries of the museum. As Taco Dibbits, the museum’s director of collections says, “We have mixed all the media and presented the visitor the story of art from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century.”

Greetings! My name is Emily Davison and I am the founder of fashioneyesta.com a fashion and lifestyle blog for blind and partially sighted people which aims to help and inspire them to develop their own unique style and confidence.

It is a great honour to be showcased on the Living Paintings website as a Guest Blogger. I was asked to blog about fashion and books. Perfect, because these things are the two loves in life. So, inspired by the brilliant book The Time Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky, I am proud to present my Fashion Time Capsule. A time capsule is not an alien concept; you fill a box with precious things and bury it in the ground, with the idea that it will be discovered by future generations. What is a new is to have a time capsule full of fashion!

Read on to find out what’s inside…

A Definitive Guide to Vintage Shopping by Funmi Odulate This book tells you everything you could possibly wish to know about Vintage Fashion and shopping for vintage pieces.

Red Vivienne Westwood Melissa T Bar Jelly Shoes I absolutely adore these “Dorothy” shoes, they are undoubtedly an icon in my eyes.

Cherry red Bowler Hat with side ribbon from Christie’s London £45 This hat was a Christmas present. It’s totally spiffing! It gets many compliments and is a very eye-catching head topper.

Emilyem Original Alice in Wonderland hand painted canvas tote bag My mother made this bag for me and it is a true work of art. The bag depicts an enchanted forest full of toadstools, dragonflies, trees, flowers, a pocket watch handing from a branch of a bare tree and a certain Cheshire Cat smiling down at me in the blue attire of Alice.

Victor and Rolf Flowerbomb Eau De Toilette 50ml £45 This fragrance is sheer beauty in a bottle. Both floral and fresh and suits any occasion, the smell lasts for an exceedingly long period whilst regularly giving bursts of freshness. I could never be without a bottle of this.

1920s Dragonfly Garnet Brooch with garnet detailing to the main body From the instant I found this brooch I knew I was destined to be the next owner in its life. It is a true beauty as the dragonfly is a spellbinding creature; in Japanese culture they are believed to be the symbol of strength. I believe that this brooch represents my endurance through life and my thesis that courage is key to success.

Turquoise Peacock Feather Pattern Embellished Coat. This coat is utterly stunning and very much a statement piece. Beautifully made it has a peacock feather pattern, a velvet button fastening at the front, loose fitting sleeves and a flattering cape style.

Closet Navy Blue with white polka dots 1940s style dress ‘Feminine, flattering and totally irresistible’ describes this dress in a nutshell. It’s made in a sexy 1940s style and is a very authentic replica of what they would have worn. I think it’s important to teach future generations to remember past styles and to learn from them.

Clinique Seven Day Scrub 100ml £17.50 I could not be without this product, I swear by it. Thanks to this product I have never been cursed with spots or sallow skin. The product has gentle rounded beads, which allow you to use it as part of your daily routine.

iPhone 5 3GB White I know this is not explicitly fashion – but without this phone there would be no regular updates from fashioneyesta, no product reviews and no YouTube videos! This phone, teamed with me and my Guide Dog, Unity, make the ultimate Super Styling Team.

Topshop Sequin Embellished Skater Dress Any magpies reading this? Be warned! The story of this wonderful acquisition was that I was hunting through the wide wilderness of Bromley to find a dress for my College Graduation. Fatigued, annoyed and craving a large Starbucks I came across a sparkling dress in my size the “Last Chance to Buy” section of Topshop. This dress captures the essence of my blog, which is all about positivity, achievement, bright lights, determination and reaching your goal before retiring to Starbucks with a beverage raised in salute. This dress takes central place in my Fashion Time Capsule.

Click here to watch, listen and find out more about my Fashion Time Capsule.

What would be in your Fashion Time Capsule? I’d love to know. Comment below, post a video on YouTube and tweet me @DavisonEm

Authors note
I created the Fashion Time Capsule concept to support the wonderful work of Living Paintings and to mark the life of my Great Great Aunt Irene Marie Rolf, 4th September 1929-13th February 2013, an inspirational women who believed that time was to precious too waste. She adored old musicals, Hollywood and fashion. I will continue to honour her memory and the saying ‘Carpe Diem’ is at the heart of my blog fashioneyesta.com

Before I took up writing full time, I spent most of my working life in secondary education, as Head of English and Drama and later as Head of a Sixth Form.

My first book for children, The Sniff Stories was published by The Bodley Head in 1989, and thanks to a kind review in The Times by the screenwriter, Andrew Davies I was able to build a writing career from that time. Since then, I’ve written well over a hundred children’s books which are published in at least 27 languages in 28 countries. I’m best known for the Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs series (Puffin); but have worked with some of the country’s best illustrators to produce dozens of pop-up books and picture books like Quacky Quack Quack! (Walker) – now in 7th edition; The Tickle Book, The Bedtime Bear and The Say Hello series (Macmillan). Popular stories for middle-junior readers include a series of ten Books for Boys (Hodder) the Little Wolf series and the Meerkat Madness series (Harper-Collins)

More recently I’ve been asked to write stories to be enjoyed online, including the collection of which comes (complete with a musical game) as an iPhone and iPad “app” called Shrinky Kid’s Boogie Box, available through iTunes.

Children love machines and I wrote “The Flying Diggers” out of affection for that remarkably sturdy and instantly-recognisable British machine, the dazzling yellow JCB, whose initials stand for its inventor, Joseph Cyril Bamford. A visit to the factory at Rocester convinced me that the appeal of these powerful beasts lies in their magical ability to morph into all sorts of shapes. So why not have JCBs that besides digging trenches and earthworks, can fly to the rescue of creatures in distress and do the bidding of small children as well? When I discovered the chapel-like building where Joseph Bamford first experimented with hydraulic arms for a tractor, the idea of a kindly grandfather who might create something magical for his grandchildren was born. He has morphed into Granbam.

To have this book with David Melling’s delightful illustration adapted for blind children is a particular thrill for me. Who would have thought that the skills of the wood-carver could bring under the fingertips of the unsighted something of the magic of the workshop and the miraculous little work-horses that the rest of us take for granted? Living Paintings deserves, combining as it does engineering and imagination, to stand alongside JCB as one of the great British inventions and institutions of our time.

It started with a kiss . . .

Actually, it didn’t start like that at all. That would just have been weird.  In reality my career as an author started with an illness.
Hmmm . . . that’s not nearly as romantic as a kiss and, frankly, at least on a par in the weirdness stakes.  But that’s how it was. Sort of.

I’d been writing creatively since I was a child, enjoying school story projects and making my own comics (four pages, two editions a year – Marvel were not worried). But as I got older and had a child myself – a little girl called Eilidh – I decided to give writing for kids a whirl.  I dabbled unsuccessfully in fantasy novels to begin with – never reaching beyond the fourth chapter before being distracted by another idea for a story and moving on to another unfinished masterpiece.

But then I fell ill. A nasty, persistent cough. Tired all the time. Trip to the GP, sent for an x-ray, called in quickly to see a non-bush beating consultant. Didn’t look good. Very high chance it could be lymphoma. Lung biopsy required to confirm. Gulp.

And so I found myself lying in a hospital bed waiting to be wheeled into theatre for the biopsy. And, in a typically melodramatic moment of self-pity, I decided that, if worst came to worst and all was lost, then I had to have something to pass on to my little girl to remember me by. Something special, just from me to her.  I know – bring on the soaring violins. I could get an Oscar for this! But that’s how my first book, My Dad, was born.  As it happened I didn’t have lymphoma (it was a much less nasty condition called sarcoidosis) but I did have a book. It was published in 2008 with my second, The Tickle Tree, following in 2009.

And then came my third, and most popular, book – The Loon On The Moon.

I suppose Loon is probably my favourite (but don’t tell the other books), so when I was first contacted by Living Paintings to tell me about their plan to turn it into a Touch To See book I was, well, over the moon!  Of course these things don’t happen overnight, so I’d almost forgotten about the project until one day around a month or so ago a large packet was delivered to my house.  Mysterious, I thought as I shook, prodded, squeezed and sniffed the parcel. But little could prepare me for was held within.

When I opened it and pulled out the book I was quite literally speechless. For a long time I slowly and silently turned the pages, running my fingers over the beautifully modelled, hand painted mouldings of the various characters from the book.  I followed the raised bumps of the transparent plastic braille sheets that overlaid the words inside, marveling that children and parents would be able to read the book by touch alone and see Emily Golden’s beautiful illustrations by feeling the wonderfully tactile mouldings.  I was utterly flabberboozled by the whole thing. It was just so perfectly presented and delightfully rendered. A wonderful gift from the charity to the children and parents who will hopefully get the chance to enjoy it for years to come.

It is such an honour that Loon On The Moon was chosen to be turned into a Touch To See book and I am humbled that, through Living Paintings’ superb work, a small corner of my little Loon world will be opened up to those who may not have been able to experience it as fully without the special “added extras”.

So thank you Living Paintings — may you continue to spread joy and imagination to children everywhere.

To watch Chae talking about our adaptation of Loon on the Moon click here

Before I go, I was asked to answer a couple of questions about the Loon On The Moon. So, very quickly, here goes . . .

• My favourite planet is Venus – because that is my daughter’s middle name! She’s 13, so she refuses to tell anyone this, but I think she’ll grow to like it when she’s older.

• If I had to name a new star I would call it . . . Zinglebert Poopwoggle, just so I could hear Professor Brian Cox forced to say it on TV on one of his space shows.

• I would most like to meet the Moptops from Mercury because they look like fun guys. Get the Singdings from Saturn over to provide the music and we could partaaayyy! Whoop!

• I get my inspiration for my books from all around. From things I see in the street, snatches of overheard conversations, articles I read in newspapers, weird words that pop into my head, from quiet moments of contemplation and tiny eureka brainwaves in busy cafes. Top tip: Keep your eyes, ears and imagination open at all times and make sure your story antenna are always fully extended.

Goodbye . . . and happy reading!

Chae

We are absolutely delighted that Martin Clunes, star of Doc Martin, Men Behaving Badly, Reggie Perrin, Fungus the Bogeyman and many other television programmes, agreed to read the audio for our new tactile book for blind children, One Year with Kipper.  Martin is also well-known for being the voice of Kipper in the animated series shown on CITV.  His warm, friendly delivery and sense of fun are perfect for our adaptation of this book by acclaimed children’s author Mick Inkpen for children aged 4 – 7 years.

One Year with Kipper follows everyone’s favourite dog and his best friend, Tiger, month by month through the seasons.  Kipper takes photographs of all their adventures throughout the year including playing in the snow, going pond dipping, parachuting on a summer’s day and collecting leaves and conkers.  It’s a lovely gentle tale with plenty of humour and lots of ideas for fun things to do whatever the weather.  The story is interleaved on Braille pages and Martin’s descriptive audio takes the reader through every page of Mick Inkpen’s delightful illustrations.  There are four colourful tactile pictures – one for each season – so the children can touch to see exactly what Kipper and Tiger look like and what fun they’re having!  To order your copy of this very special book now – click here

We are immensely grateful to Martin for taking the time out of his busy schedule to record for us.  He was happy to help support our work which enriches the lives of our 4,000+ young blind library members across the UK.  Click here to hear a few words from him on our vital work.