This World Book Day, four organisations who champion Makaton as a communication method have come together to create a video to tell Judith Kerr’s children’s classic The Tiger Who Came To Tea in Makaton, making it more accessible to children and young people with additional needs.
The organisations, Family Fund, The Makaton Charity , Singing Hands and Wouldn’t Change a Thing, have produced the video, which is free to view, with the help of supporters and families raising children who use Makaton to communicate. There’s also a guest appearance from CBeebies’ Justin Fletcher AKA Mr Tumble.
Makaton is a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate. It supports the development of essential communication skills such as attention and listening, comprehension, memory, recall and organisation of language and expression.
Following last year’s successful translation of Julia Donaldson’s, The Snail and the Whale for World Book Day, the organisations wanted to continue highlighting the importance of making children’s storytelling inclusive on a day that is important in many families’ calendars.
Cheryl Ward, Chief Executive at Family Fund; “World Book Day provides us with an opportunity to celebrate something that all children love - stories. Being able to communicate is one of the most important skills needed in life. So, when a story is told to a child in a language they understand it can open up a window to a new world.”
‘The Tiger Who Came To Tea’ was written by Judith Kerr, and originally published in 1968. It has sold over 5 million copies and been translated into at least 11 languages. A TV adaptation was shown by Channel 4 on Christmas Eve 2019.