Jackanory star honoured

Bernard Cribbins, face of the BBC's hit storytime show Jackanory, received a Special Award at the Children's BAFTAs for 2009 for his "outstanding creative contribution".

The list of productions with which Cribbins has been associated reads like a greatest hits of children's entertainment. From The Wombles on television to The Railway Chldren on the big screen, comedies like Fawlty Towers, and standing alongside no less than three Doctors including as the last companion for David Tennant.

But Cribbins has recently been heard telling The Times newspaper that he wishes one-on-one storytelling should be brought back to television. Snail Tales shares his view on the overuse of CGI effects, which we believe dampen the imaginative abilities of children by giving them too much. The magic of storytelling is that children help to create the world by letting the pictures in their mind run riot.

On the other side of the coin, programmes such as Jackanory don't just give the children the opportunity to see better special effects than TV could ever produce, but also give parents the chance to see how it's done. When asked to give his secret to good storytelling, Cribbins replied, "to concentrate on one child, look them directly in the eye, and make them listen to every single thing I say."

To read Cribbins' interview with The Times, click here.

2010-01-06