Book: Bisset D. “Forgotten Birthday

Topic: D. Bisset “Forgotten Birthday”

Purpose and objectives of the lesson:

Introduce children to the biography and work of D. Bisset, improve reading skills (fluency, accuracy, awareness, expressiveness); enrich vocabulary;

Develop interest in independent reading, continue to work on developing skills in working with text;

Foster independence and enhance students’ cognitive activity

Lesson type: combined

Methods, techniques: visual, search, reproductive, gaming

Equipment: reading book, projector, lesson presentation

During the classes.

Organizing time

The long-awaited call was given,

The lesson begins.

Well, check it out, my friend,

Are you ready to start the lesson?

Is everything in place?

Is everything all right?

Pen, book and notebook?

Is everyone sitting correctly?

Everyone is watching carefully.

Everyone wants to receive

Only rating "5"

2. Setting the lesson goal

Work on the topic

1) Acquaintance with the biography of D. Bisset

Let's find out a little about him.

Donald Bisset is an English children's writer, artist, film actor and theater director. Bisset created a world of short fairy tales, not only embodied his ideas in two books that made him famous - A Forgotten Birthday and A Journey along the River of Time - but also made television productions of his best fairy tales. Bisset is also an artist and designs his own books. He also distinguished himself as an inventive theater director, staged his own fairy tales on the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon and even played a dozen small roles in them. He invented and settled in Africa an animal that is never bored: one half of it consists of a charming Cat, and the other half of a resourceful Crocodile. The name of the beast is Crococat. Donald Bisset's favorite friend is the tiger cub Rrrrr, with whom Donald Bisset loves to travel along the river of time until the end of the Rainbow. And he knows how to move his brains so much that his thoughts rustle. The main enemies of Donald Bisset and Tiger Cub Rrrrr are Harmful with the names You Can’t, Don’t Dare and Shame on You.

N.V. Shershevskaya (translator of Bisset’s fairy tales) about the writer:

The English storyteller... began writing fairy tales commissioned by London television and read them himself in children's programs. And he read excellently, because he was a professional actor and accompanied the reading with his funny and expressive drawings. The broadcast lasted about eight minutes, and accordingly, the volume of the tale did not exceed two or three pages. The first book of his short fairy tales was published in the “Read It Yourself” series in 1954. It was called “I’ll Tell You When You Want.” It was followed by “I’ll Tell You Another Time”, “I’ll Tell You Someday”, etc. Then collections appeared, united by the same characters - “Yak”, “Conversations with a Tiger”, “The Adventures of Miranda the Duck”, “ A Horse Named Smokey,” “The Journey of Uncle Tick-Tock,” “A Trip to the Jungle” and others. All books were published with drawings by the author himself.

2) Getting to know a new work

What are your favorite holidays?

Can you forget about your birthday?

And in our work everything is possible

Reading the text in a reader

3) Analysis of the work

What parts can this story be divided into?

Give a title to each part. Write down the plan

Prepare your retelling according to plan

Consolidation

Let's determine whose retelling was the most accurate, and the animated film will help us do this

(watching a cartoon)

Lesson summary

What was our learning task?

6.Reflection

Homework

Find and read other works by D. Bisset

Meeting a new book is like meeting a new person. Sympathy arises immediately, comes gradually or does not arise at all.

In Bisset's book "The Forgotten Birthday" there are wonderful characters, an atmosphere of kindness and fabulous serenity.

The most interesting thing for me is to come up with drawings. What should the tiger Rrrrr, the piglet Icarus, Crococat, the cow Annabelle look like?.. Imagination works when you stand in line for bread, go on the subway, even in a dream, in my opinion.

And so all my life, because one book replaces another.. This is the happiness of the illustrator. Only the echo of everyday thunderstorms penetrates his fairyland. The book heroes he created will stand as a wall and protect you from harm.

But let's return to Bisset.

screen of English television, where he, like our “Aunt Valya,” hosts children’s programs, telling fairy tales and at the same time drawing pictures with a felt-tip pen. He is said to have a riding horse and likes to go for walks in his free time. Here. perhaps that's all. I didn’t know what he looked like, so I asked the translator N.V. Shereshevskaya, who knew Bisset personally, to get me his photograph. She wrote a letter to England. First Bisset sent a very small photograph. Looking at her, I drew a portrait. Shereshevskaya said:

Very similar, only in life it is somewhat fuller.

After some time, she handed me two more cards. One shows Donald Bisset at the age of one, dressed in a girl's dress, and the other shows his mother. I pasted these two photographs into an illustration for the fairy tale “The Philosopher Beetle and Others.” So that good things don’t go to waste.

Natalia Viktorovna Shereshevskaya not only talentedly retold the fairy tales from English, but also wrote conversations between the author and the tiger, which connect all the fairy tales together. In addition, funny tiger thoughts greatly enliven the dialogue.

While working on the book, I was amazed at the author’s extraordinary invention and his paradoxical thinking:

“Hurray!” shouted the forgotten birthday. “Hurray, hurray, hurray!” We need to come up with something like this! Birthday can talk!

And this: “About the little bus who was afraid of the dark”

In the fairy tale St Pancras and King's Cross, the Queen awards Euston Station a gold medal.

I especially like Waterloo Station. He could not stand still, caught up with the train in which King Samuel was traveling to visit his grandmother, and shouted:

Can I come with you too?

“Come on!” answered King Samuel.

What is water? Scientists will answer: N2 0. And Donald Bisset:

- Diamonds on the grass.

Yellow ones, please! - Donald Bisset said to his beloved tiger Rrrrr. - There is no need for white ones, only yellow ones.

But Rrrrr didn’t even bat an eye. He knew that Donald was just saying this: what if the speckled hen laid eggs for them for breakfast? Yellow ones.

Yellow was his favorite color. Yellow leaves, yellow sun, yellow sand, yellow ice cream.

Yellow is even better than gold.

And the tiger is yellow,” said Rrrrr. “But black stripes don’t count, okay?”

I agree,” said Donald Bisset. “But I like you in stripes too.”

Urrr, URRR. sweet tiger, huh?

Not sweet, but nice.

No, sweetie! And everything sweet is delicious. And it turns out the same thing. If you don't believe me, ask the dog!

Donald Bisset thought.

What could we come up with, Rrrrr? - he said. “I have six free days ahead.”

“Six is almost seven,” answered Rrrrr.

And seven is a whole week! So what should we do?

Call and ask, said Rrrrr.

Well, of course! And how did I forget?

Donald Bisset picked up the phone and dialed the number: VBZH 1-2-3-4 (one-two-three-four).

“Your Vo-Bra-Zhenie is listening,” they answered into the phone. “Do you want to have a fun vacation?” Now let's think about what to recommend. So... well... however, no... You know what, we will call you in a few minutes, but for now introduce yourself to the guys who are reading this book. Maybe they don't know you yet?

With pleasure. Dear Guys! Meet my favorite tiger. His name is Rrrrr.

Rrrrrrrrrr --- said Rrrrrr.

Sometimes he can be angry, especially on Fridays.

Because all lazy and disobedient people get a spanking on Fridays! Before breakfast, grrrrr...

What did you come up with, Rrrrr? Don't listen to him, he's the one who got it wrong. Tigers are not punished here. Sometimes schoolchildren... I got it myself... But I don’t want to remember it. Rrrrr is joking! Actually, he is a very kind and nice tiger.

Yellow striped!

Yes, like all real tigers.

And now it’s my turn,” said Rrrrr. “I’ll introduce you to Donald Bisset.” He is a real famous storyteller. He lives in England and writes fairy tales, draws pictures for them, and himself tells his fairy tales on television, because he is an actor. He plays in the theater, acts in films and knows how to ride a horse...

Stop it, Rrrrr, you're bragging.

I didn't boast, but I boasted about you. Do you want Donald to tell you a fairy tale before his imagination calls?

And Rrrrr thought to himself: “He knows how to write fairy tales, but he can’t figure out how to spend such a small vacation - a MARIGAL HOLIDAY. That's funny! "

But he didn’t say this out loud, because he himself wanted to listen to the fairy tale.

Tell me a new one or an old one? - asked Donald Bisset.

First my favorite.

What's your favorite today?

- “About a pig who learned to fly.” (The tiger had his own favorite tale every day.) And then tell two new ones and one old one. After all, you and I live in a fairy tale book, right? This means we can’t live without fairy tales!

Donald just shook his head. “What a cunning tiger!” - he thought. But he didn’t say it out loud, but began to tell

ABOUT THE PIG WHO LEARNED TO FLY

One day a little pig - and his name was Icarus - came to the Magic Spring and asked:

Please fulfill my wish.

The little pig has long wanted to learn to fly. No wonder his name was Icarus.

If you really want, I can make you fly,” said the Magic Source. “Only for this you first need to turn into a bird.”

No, I want to be a pig. A pig who can fly, said Icarus.

But piglets cannot fly,” objected the Magic Source.

Icarus was very upset and went home.

On the way, he thought about only one thing: how to learn to fly.

Once upon a time there lived a big elephant. He lived at Whipsnade Zoo with his mother elephant and a baby elephant called Hjalmar.
Papa Elephant was very big. The mother elephant was also big. And no one would even call Yalmar very small. Elephants are never very small.

One fine day, the mother elephant and the baby elephant saw that the father elephant was standing on his head.
- What happened to you? – asked the mother elephant.
“I’m trying to remember something,” answered the elephant daddy.

– What are you trying to remember?
“If I knew,” answered the elephant daddy, “I wouldn’t try.” Isn't that right, my dear?
“Hyalmar,” the mother elephant said to her son, “run quickly and try to find what dad forgot.”

And Yalmar ran along the road. Then he climbed a low hill near a bamboo grove and sat down to rest, and at the same time watch the clouds play tag in the sky.
Suddenly he heard someone crying. They were crying very close by, although Yalmar did not see who. And he said:
- Do not Cry! Do you want me to help you?
They stopped crying.

- Who are you? – asked Hjalmar.
- Forgotten birthday. I don't know whose I am.
- Ay! - said Hjalmar. - What a problem! Do you have a birthday cake?

- Certainly! What's a birthday without cake? There are six candles on mine, which means someone turned six years old today.
“It’s so good to be six years old! – thought Yalmar. - Very good! Almost as good as seven. Five years is also not bad, but four is nothing. Well, when it’s eight, when it’s eight, you’re already half an adult. Still, it’s probably best when you’re six.”

“I’m very, very sorry,” he said. “But I can’t help you.” I just don't know who forgot their birthday.
And Hjalmar hurried home. When he returned, daddy elephant was no longer standing on his head, but was sitting at the table having lunch.
- I remembered! - said the elephant daddy. “I knew it was yesterday, or tomorrow, or today.” I knew it!

- What today? – asked Hjalmar.
- That today is your birthday! - said the mother elephant, entering the room. – You turned six years old today.
Yalmar became agitated and quickly ran back to the low hill near the bamboo grove.

- Listen! - he shouted. – It turns out it’s MY birthday. I'm six years old today!
- Hooray! - shouted the forgotten birthday. - Hurray, hurray, hurray!

In the evening, for tea, Yalmar received a festive cake with six candles. He stretched out his trunk and blew out all the candles at once.
“That's great! - he thought. “It’s good when you’re six years old!”

Meeting a new book is like meeting a new person. Sympathy arises immediately, comes gradually or does not arise at all.

In Bisset's book "The Forgotten Birthday" there are wonderful characters, an atmosphere of kindness and fabulous serenity.

But let's return to Bisset.

Very similar, only in life it is somewhat fuller.

While working on the book, I was amazed at the author’s extraordinary invention and his paradoxical thinking:

“Hurray!” shouted the forgotten birthday. “Hurray, hurray, hurray!” We need to come up with something like this! Birthday can talk!

And this: “About the little bus who was afraid of the dark”

In the fairy tale St Pancras and King's Cross, the Queen awards Euston Station a gold medal.

I especially like Waterloo Station. He could not stand still, caught up with the train in which King Samuel was traveling to visit his grandmother, and shouted:

Can I come with you too?

“Come on!” answered King Samuel.

What is water? Scientists will answer: N2 0. And Donald Bisset:

- Diamonds on the grass.

Yellow ones, please! - Donald Bisset said to his beloved tiger Rrrrr. - There is no need for white ones, only yellow ones.

But Rrrrr didn’t even bat an eye. He knew that Donald was just saying this: what if the speckled hen laid eggs for them for breakfast? Yellow ones.

Yellow was his favorite color. Yellow leaves, yellow sun, yellow sand, yellow ice cream.

Yellow is even better than gold.

And the tiger is yellow,” said Rrrrr. “But black stripes don’t count, okay?”

I agree,” said Donald Bisset. “But I like you in stripes too.”

Urrr, URRR. sweet tiger, huh?

Not sweet, but nice.

No, sweetie! And everything sweet is delicious. And it turns out the same thing. If you don't believe me, ask the dog!

Donald Bisset thought.

What could we come up with, Rrrrr? - he said. “I have six free days ahead.”

“Six is almost seven,” answered Rrrrr.

And seven is a whole week! So what should we do?

Call and ask, said Rrrrr.

Well, of course! And how did I forget?

Donald Bisset picked up the phone and dialed the number: VBZH 1-2-3-4 (one-two-three-four).

With pleasure. Dear Guys! Meet my favorite tiger. His name is Rrrrr.

Rrrrrrrrrr --- said Rrrrrr.

Sometimes he can be angry, especially on Fridays.

Because all lazy and disobedient people get a spanking on Fridays! Before breakfast, grrrrr...

Yellow striped!

Yes, like all real tigers.

Stop it, Rrrrr, you're bragging.

I didn't boast, but I boasted about you. Do you want Donald to tell you a fairy tale before his imagination calls?

And Rrrrr thought to himself: “He knows how to write fairy tales, but he can’t figure out how to spend such a small vacation - a MARIGAL HOLIDAY. That's funny! "

But he didn’t say this out loud, because he himself wanted to listen to the fairy tale.

Tell me a new one or an old one? - asked Donald Bisset.

First my favorite.

What's your favorite today?

Donald just shook his head. “What a cunning tiger!” - he thought. But he didn’t say it out loud, but began to tell

ABOUT THE PIG WHO LEARNED TO FLY

One day a little pig - and his name was Icarus - came to the Magic Spring and asked:

Please fulfill my wish.

The little pig has long wanted to learn to fly. No wonder his name was Icarus.

If you really want, I can make you fly,” said the Magic Source. “Only for this you first need to turn into a bird.”

No, I want to be a pig. A pig who can fly, said Icarus.

But piglets cannot fly,” objected the Magic Source.

Icarus was very upset and went home.

On the way, he thought about only one thing: how to learn to fly.

The next morning, early, he went into the forest and asked each bird to give him a feather. Well, of course they gave it to him.

Perhaps you want to learn to fly? - they asked.

Yes,” answered Icarus.

He glued the feathers with wax to create wings. Then he climbed to the top of the mountain near the seashore. Following him, a cat, a mouse, a bird and two rabbits, a whole company of beetles and even a snail climbed up there - everyone wanted to see what he could do.

Icarus tied his wings, flapped them and flew. This was happiness! And all the spectators were also happy, and the smallest bug almost died of delight.

Icarus rose high, high, almost to the sun.

Hey piggy! Oh well done! - he praised himself. - And the Magic Source also said that piglets cannot fly. They can!

But the heat of the sun melted the wax, and the wings flew down feather by feather. And behind them comes the piglet himself. He somersaulted in the air several times and splashed into the sea.

Poor Icarus was completely wet. It’s good that he swam safely to the shore and ran home to his mother.

“Don’t be upset, my little Icarus,” his mother told him, “after all, you FLY!” - And she hugged him tightly.

All his friends came to visit him, and his mother prepared them tea with cake and jam.

Late in the evening, Icarus ran to the Magic Spring. He leaned over the edge of the well and, looking at the tiny piece of water at the very bottom, said:

You’re right, piglets can’t fly.” And a tear rolled down his cheek.

“Hold your head up,” said the Magic Spring, “you’re still a great guy!”

He's very brave, this little pig, isn't he? - said Rrrrr, when Donald finished telling. - And to be brave is almost as good as to be brave.

But it’s the same thing,” Donald smiled. “What do you think, Rrrrr, do the guys know why the pig’s name was Icarus?”

I know, but the guys probably don’t know. Tell me better.

Long ago, the ancient Greeks composed tales about gods and heroes. They called their tales myths. They had one myth about the young man Icarus and his father, a skilled craftsman. Together with his father, Icarus had to escape from the evil king. And in order to fly across the sea, they made themselves wings from feathers and glued them with wax. Father asked

August 3 - 105 years old Donald Bisset (1910 – 1995). If a person is talented, then he is talented in everything. The truism perfectly describes the English storyteller, artist, actor and director Donald Bisset. The writer voiced his tales in such a way that he made children believe in the existence of the legendary African beast Crococat and, in a confident voice, fully confirmed the possibility of talking with tigers on philosophical topics. In The Forgotten Birthday, Donald Bisset is introduced by a tiger named Rrrrr: " He is a real famous storyteller. He lives in England and writes fairy tales, draws pictures for them, and himself tells his fairy tales on television, because he is an actor. He plays in the theater, acts in films and knows how to ride a horse...” Everything in these words is true. It seems that fate has always smiled on the author, Donald Bisset. But this was not always the case.

He was born on August 3, 1910 in Brentford, Middlesex, England. Since childhood, Donald has been immersed in the fabulous atmosphere of old England. Scary and funny stories about the adventures of folk heroes on winter evenings, majestic castles with gloomy loophole windows excited the imagination of the young dreamer. At the age of ten, after the death of his father, Donald and his older sister ended up in an orphanage. He recalled this in one of his interviews: “ As a child, I did not know cordiality and warmth, but it was people who softened my heart, and I became kinder in soul" During World War II, Bisset served as an artillery lieutenant. One day he dramatically changed his life: “he became an actor.” His sister said: “This is not serious!” But it turned out to be serious and for a long time - for life. Bisset changed several stages and by the time his first book was published he was an actor at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

One day, London television made him an unexpected offer - to write fairy tales, and he readily agreed. Soon he began to read them in children's programs. And since he was a professional actor, he read his fairy tales simply excellent. Very skillful and fun. He accompanied his reading by showing funny and expressive drawings. The broadcast lasted about eight minutes, so the volume of the tale did not exceed two or three pages. In 1954, he published the first book of his short fairy tales, it was published in the “Read It Yourself” series. The book was called “I’ll Tell You When You Want.” It was followed by “I’ll tell you another time,” “I’ll tell you someday.” After this series, collections appeared, united by the same characters. Little readers learned about “Yak”, “Conversations with a Tiger”, “The Adventures of Miranda the Duck”, “A Horse Named Smokey”, “The Journey of Uncle Tick-Tock” and “A Trip to the Jungle”. All books were illustrated with drawings by Bisset himself. Perhaps he could have become a classic of the fantasy genre, but he settled on short fairy tales, where in just two or three pages he described fascinating journeys to countries where there are witches and sorcerers, where animals speak human language, and the sun not only warms, but also gives advices. He invented and settled in Africa an animal that is never bored: one half of it consists of the Most Charming Cat, and the other half of the Resourceful Crocodile. The name of the beast is Crococat. Donald Bisset's favorite friend is the tiger cub Rrrrr, with whom Donald Bisset loves to travel along the river of time until the end of the Rainbow. And he knows how to move his brains so much that his thoughts rustle. The main enemies of Donald Bisset and Tiger Cub Rrrrr are Harmful with the names You Can’t, Don’t You Dare and Shame. The author embodied all his ideas in his own writings in a unique literary, memorable style. He wrote tales about waves, girls, wizards and dragons, about food and animals. I wrote with pleasure about fish, starfish, children, plants, and weather phenomena. Heroes in stories celebrate birthdays and go on interesting journeys.

Sergei Mikhalkov highly appreciated the writer’s work and spoke flatteringly about Bisset’s fairy tales, repeating that only a person with a kind heart can write fairy tales for children: “ Dear Guys! Now you will read this book, which is called “Conversations with a Tiger.” “How so? - you ask. “Do they talk to tigers?” However, you are unlikely to ask about this. You have long known that in fairy tales you can talk not only with tigers, but also with elephants, with kings and witches, and even with the sun... This book was written by the English writer Donald Bisset. He lives in London and is an English theater and film actor. But his favorite pastime is writing fairy tales for children. Very short and very funny. During his life, Bisset has probably already written a hundred such tales. Many of them were published in our country in a large collection of his fairy tales, called “Everything is Somersault.” Bisset not only loves to write fairy tales, but also to tell them. With his new fairy tales, he always appears on television in front of London children. Not long ago, Donald Bisset was a guest in Moscow. He was invited to one kindergarten. Bisset immediately made friends with the guys and began to compose a fairy tale with them. Yes, yes, together with the guys. And it didn’t matter at all that Bisset didn’t know Russian, and the guys didn’t know English. But they understood each other perfectly in the fabulous language of friendship.” Bisset visited Moscow twice, spoke on television, and visited a kindergarten, where he even composed the fairy tale “I do what I want” with the children.

During one of his visits to our country in 1967, Bisset wrote a tiny autobiography: “ Autobiography from the nail. Scotsman. I live in London. Gray hair, blue eyes, height 5.9 feet. I have been working in the theater since 1933. He began telling fairy tales for children in 1953 on television. The first book of fairy tales, “A Story for Every Occasion,” was published in 1954. Since then I have been writing all the time, little by little. My favorite heroes of the past: Jesus Christ (for his teachings), Johann Sebastian Bach, William Shakespeare, William Blake (aphorisms), Charles Darwin. By philosophy I am a materialist. By temperament - an optimist. I believe that anyone who reflects the world can be called an artist. My greatest wish is to publish one of my children's books with my own color illustrations. Until now I have not been able to do this for economic (among other) reasons related to the laws of our publishing industry. My favorite children's books: “The Wind in the Willows”, “Winnie the Pooh”, “Alice in Wonderland”. As well as folk tales about giants and witches. I don't really like the fairy tales of Hans Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.».

In our country, Bisset's fairy tales have been published since 1963, and more than one generation has grown up with them, but recently they have been undeservedly forgotten, although some are still published. They were translated into Russian by the remarkable translator Natalia Viktorovna Shereshevskaya, although other translations can now be found. If we talk about literary continuity, the poetics of Bisset's fairy tales are closest to English folk songs. They contain reverse logic, familiar from folklore, a reversal of cause and effect: if you move the clock hands back, time will also run into the past; to make it warmer, you need to turn the cockerel weathervane to the south, etc. And paradoxical eccentricity. How, for example, does one fly to Australia? It’s very simple, you need to drink a lot of fizz, then you will fly high, high, and if you stay in the air long enough for the Earth to make half a revolution around its axis, then you will definitely land in Australia. Or how to silence a stupid minister? You should bring an elephant into parliament who loves crunchy gingerbread cookies, and no one will hear what the minister says because the elephant will crunch very loudly.

« Conversations with a tiger": A world of incredible adventures and fascinating stories. This wonderful, kind and unusual world, which appears before the eyes of a young (or not so young) reader, will not leave anyone indifferent. This is how one imagines a slightly capricious, but very good-natured tiger; man from the moon; cow - philosopher; good dragon and many, many others.

« Everything's upside down»: Want to know an easy and affordable way to fly to Australia? Then drink a whole tub of soda and when your stomach is bubbling and whistling like a real rocket, grab your umbrella and take off! Australia is nearby.

« Trip to the jungle": Here is the only book in Russian that was not only invented, but also drawn by Donald Bisset.

« The Journey of Uncle Tick-Tock and Other Tales" Travel is different. For example, Uncle Tick-Tock, together with his striped friend the tiger Rrrrr, set off on a boat along the River of Time. They had to find the end of the rainbow. Donald Bisset is a famous storyteller. He lives and performs with his best friend, the tiger Rrrrr. One day, some Mischief stole what Rrrrr was most proud of - his tiger ROAR. What to do? And Donald Bisset and Rrrrr go on a long journey...

A Collection of Tales by Donald Bisset " Forgotten birthday"is an amazing and magical journey in which children will learn why chefs need to be fat and kings need to be thin, what the River of Time is and where it came from. And also the mysterious Voo-Bra-Zhenie, a bus that is afraid of the dark and much, much more will appear in front of them. The book is not only educational, but also helps develop imagination and teaches not to forget about important things, such as the birthdays of loved ones. The illustrator of the book, Viktor Chizhikov, says: « Meeting a new book is like meeting a new person. Sympathy arises immediately, comes gradually or does not arise at all. In Bisset's book "The Forgotten Birthday" there are wonderful characters, an atmosphere of kindness and fabulous serenity. The most interesting thing for me is coming up with drawings. What should the tiger Rrrrr, the pig Icarus, Crococat, Annabelle the cow be like?... I decided to start with a portrait of the author. What did I know about Bisset? That he is a writer and artist, film actor. That he can often be seen on the English television screen, where he, like our “Aunt Valya,” hosts children’s programs, telling fairy tales and at the same time drawing pictures with a felt-tip pen. He is said to have a riding horse and likes to go for walks in his free time. That's probably all. I didn’t know what he looked like, so I asked the translator N.V. Shereshevskaya, who personally knew Bisset, to get me his photograph. She wrote a letter to England. First Bisset sent a very small photograph. Looking at her, I drew a portrait. Shereshevskaya said: “It’s very similar, only in life it’s a little fuller.” After some time, she handed me two more cards. One shows Donald Bisset at the age of one, dressed in a girl's dress, and the other shows his mother. I pasted these two photographs into an illustration for the fairy tale “The Philosopher Beetle and Others.” So that good things don’t go to waste. While working on the book, I was amazed at the author’s extraordinary invention and his paradoxical thinking:

"Hooray! - cried the forgotten birthday. - Hurray, hurray, hurray! We need to come up with something like this! Birthday can talk! In the fairy tale St Pancras and King's Cross, the Queen awards Euston Station a gold medal. I especially like Waterloo Station. He could not stand still, caught up with the train in which King Samuel was traveling to visit his grandmother, and shouted:

- Can I come with you?

- Let's! - replied King Samuel».

Donald Bisset created his own special fairy-tale world, in which the most incredible characters - the semicolon, the London fog, an imaginary horse and tiger, the monument to Admiral Nelson, darkness, etc. - behave like ordinary people, adults and children. And their behavior is human and very humane. What is dearest to them is the joy of friendship and the fulfillment of desires - not their own, but someone else's. Bisset's masterful play with words makes his fairy tales even funnier and infects not only with fun, but involuntarily encourages the children themselves to play with words, invent new words, and creatively use their native language. His fairy tales are often close to English literature of nonsense on the one hand, philosophical parables on the other, sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always bright, kind, but not moralizing, smart - as fairy tales should be smart. Everyone will find something in Bisset’s fairy tales something of your own. Some will be delighted by their English humor, others by their unusualness, even the absurdity of situations; others will see in them references to folklore, primarily to upside-down songs. And someone will just want to meet their favorite characters again and again: Mr. Crococat and the policeman Arthur, Lord Nelson and the chicken, Annabel the cow and the Forgotten Birthday. The main thing is that you have imagination, and the tales of Donald Bisset will not disappoint you. The stories are funny, witty, whimsical.

When Donald Bisset was asked why he became a writer, he replied: " Because the grass turns green and the trees grow. 'Cause I can hear the thunder roaring and the rain pounding. Because I love children and animals. I take my hat off to ladybug. I like to pet cats and ride horses... And also write fairy tales, play in the theater, draw... When you love both, then you are rich. He who loves nothing cannot be happy" Perhaps there is no better way to say it!

Bisset is also an artist and designs his own books. He achieved great success as an illustrator. Several exhibitions of his graphics have already taken place in London. His fans also know him as an excellent theater director. He independently staged his own fairy tales. Most often he did this on the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon and certainly took part in some of them. He played small roles, the total number of which is 10. While working on creating fairy tales, Donald also managed to act in films. He played roles in 57 films and television series that remained unknown outside of England. Bisset played his first role in the film “Go-round” in 1949. In 1978, he played a small role in the film “Leaders of Atlantis,” which was also shown in the Soviet Union. His last film appearance was in 1991 in the English television series “A Very English Murder” (The Bill) as Mr. Grimm.

Bisset died in London on 18 August 1995, aged 85. He was always glad of his fate, which prepared for him a bright and eventful life, full of fabulous adventures in imaginary countries. Fairy tales were, are and will be again and again as long as there are children and amazing creators of magic on Earth - writers and storytellers. One such wizard is writer Donald Bisset. Ask your child if he has ever had a conversation with a talking snail? Does he know a tiger cub who is saddened by the loss of black stripes on his golden fur? Does he know the man from the moon? If not, then don’t deprive him of the pleasure of meeting you. It is amazing that in the English-speaking world Bisset has been completely forgotten. His children's fairy tales have not been published for more than forty years! While in Russia Bisset is still being republished, and his tales are widely known. Readers fell in love with the cute, slightly eccentric, but kind and selfless, honest and brave heroes of the English writer. In Russia, 10 cartoons based on his fairy tales were filmed.

Mister Crococat

One day the Man in the Moon looked down at the Earth - he, of course, had looked at the Earth before - and saw a huge dog, barking loudly, chasing a small cat.

What a bastard! - said the Man on the Moon. - Who would it be? Looks like Bulka from High Street. Well, yes! That's right, Bulka! Well, just wait, I’ll stop you from chasing cats!

And late at night, when the Moon was shining over Africa, the Man from the Moon again looked at the Earth, wanting to certainly see one of his old friends named Mr. Crococat.

Mr. Crococat had one half as a cat and the other half as a crocodile. He was the only Crococat of his kind and lived very secluded in a small cave in the middle of Africa and never saw anyone.

Aren't you bored here? - the Man from the Moon asked him.

Not at all! - Mr. Crococat answered.

“And I thought just the opposite,” said the Man from the Moon. - After all, you don’t even have anyone to kiss goodnight and say “good night.”

Ha! What a fool! - said Mr. Crococat. - I am the only creature in the world who always has someone to say “good night.” Look!

With these words, Mr. Crococat curled up and half the crocodile kissed the half cat.

Good night, dear Croc! - said the Cat. - Have a good sleep.

Good night, friend Cat! - answered the Crocodile - Pleasant dreams!

Yes! - said the Man from the Moon. - It turns out that crococats have their advantages.

Certainly! - Mr. Crococat agreed. - But also your troubles.

Which ones? - The Man from the Moon was surprised.

You see,” said Mr. Crococat, “I can never only go forward, some half of me is always moving backwards.” That's why I sometimes can't figure out whether I'm moving forward or moving backward.

Yes, it’s inconvenient,” agreed the Man from the Moon. - By the way, could you help me? There is one worthless dog here, his name is Bulka, he lives in England and is always chasing cats. If only you could get there some night. At first you would seem like a cat to him, and when he chased you, you would scare him with a crocodile's mouth. Maybe it would discourage him from chasing cats forever.

Agree! - said Mr. Crococat. - Let's do it!

When he reached England, the moon was brightly illuminating the neighbor's yard behind Bulka's house. Mr. Crococat lay down under a shady tree, hid his crocodile half and exposed only his cat half to the moonlight.

As soon as Bulka noticed the cat - it seemed to him that it was a real cat - he barked, jumped over the fence and rushed at it. But instead of a cat he was met by a crocodile, and wow, what a scary one!

Poor Bulka rushed home without looking back and only caught his breath in his basket in the kitchen.

No, pipes! I don't chase cats anymore! - he decided.

Well, the Man from the Moon and his friend Mr. Crococat laughed at him!

Then Mr. Crococat yawned and said:

I should take a nap now. - And lay down more comfortably.

“Good night, dear Croc,” said the Cat.

“Good night, my friend Cat,” answered the Crocodile. - Have a nice sleep!

Forgotten birthday

Once upon a time there lived a big elephant. He lived at Whipsnade Zoo with his mother elephant and a baby elephant called Hjalmar. Papa Elephant was very big. The mother elephant was also big. And no one would even call Yalmar very small. Elephants are never very small. One fine day, the mother elephant and the baby elephant saw that the father elephant was standing on his head.

- What happened to you? – asked the mother elephant.

“I’m trying to remember something,” answered the elephant daddy.

– What are you trying to remember?

“If I knew,” answered the elephant daddy, “I wouldn’t try.” Isn't that right, my dear?

“Hyalmar,” the mother elephant said to her son, “run quickly and try to find what dad forgot.”

- Do not Cry! Do you want me to help you?

They stopped crying.

- Who are you? – asked Hjalmar.

- Forgotten birthday. I don't know whose I am.

- Ay! - said Hjalmar. - What a problem! Do you have a birthday cake?

- Certainly! What's a birthday without cake? There are six candles on mine, which means someone turned six years old today.

“It’s so good to be six years old! – thought Yalmar. - Very good! Almost as good as seven. Five years is also not bad, but four is nothing. Well, when it’s eight, when it’s eight, you’re already half an adult. Still, it’s probably best when you’re six.”

“I’m very, very sorry,” he said. “But I can’t help you.” I just don't know who forgot their birthday.

And Hjalmar hurried home. When he returned, daddy elephant was no longer standing on his head, but was sitting at the table having lunch.

- I remembered! - said the elephant daddy. “I knew it was yesterday, or tomorrow, or today.” I knew it!

- What today? – asked Hjalmar.

- That today is your birthday! - said the mother elephant, entering the room. – You turned six years old today.

Yalmar became agitated and quickly ran back to the low hill near the bamboo grove.

- Listen! - he shouted. – It turns out it’s MY birthday. I'm six years old today!

- Hooray! - shouted the forgotten birthday. - Hurray, hurray, hurray!

In the evening, for tea, Yalmar received a festive cake with six candles. He stretched out his trunk and blew out all the candles at once.

“That’s great! - he thought. “It’s good when you’re six years old!”

About the tiger cub Binky, whose stripes disappeared

One day, Tigress Mom decided to bake a sweet pie. “What if guests come to me in the evening,” she thought. She took out a small jar of powdered sugar and a large jar of flour from the cupboard and began to knead the dough. She rolled out the dough so hard that flour and powdered sugar flew all over the kitchen.

Just at this time, the tiger cub Binky was born. The tigress mother looked at him and was surprised:

-Where are your stripes? Well, it’s okay, we will still love you, without the stripes.

And in fact, Binky had no stripes. None. He was very upset.

Binky waited until he finished, and when the man left, Binky leaned against the fence, first with one side, then with the other. The dye stuck to the fur and it became stripy. Binky ran home to show his mother his stripes. But it was very hot, the sun was very hot, and the paint began to melt and drip onto the ground, so that soon Binky again did not have a single strip left

And then he met Zebra. Binky froze in surprise: how many stripes there are on one single back! This is unfair! He sat down and cried bitterly.

-What are you talking about, baby? – Zebra asked him.

- By... by... why am I not striped? - Binky complained

“Poor thing,” said Zebra and affectionately licked the tiger cub. “But you taste nothing, pleasant.” - And she licked him again. - Like a sweet pie. She licked it again and again, and suddenly black stripes appeared on Binky’s back, one after another!

He ran home to his mother and shouted:

- Mother! Hurray, I'm striped!

- Is it true! – Tigress-mother was delighted. - Well, who would have thought! It was probably powdered sugar and flour that covered your stripes when I was making the sweet pie. The tigress mother was very pleased and invited Zebra for a cup of tea. For tea, Zebra received an armful of hay, and Binky received a piece of sweet pie.

Murr was surprised. “What nonsense! Do mice hunt cats? - she thought. But when the mice chased her, she ran away in surprise without looking back.
“Well, life, everything is going topsy-turvy!” – Murr thought. Then she came across a huge dog, Woof. Woof growled angrily at Murr. Murr was ready to run away and hide in a tree, but suddenly she thought: “If everything in this world is going wrong, Woof will run away from me.”

And Murr rushed at Gav, and Gav, of course, ran away. “Miracles are happening in this world! - thought Murr. - Cats hunt dogs, mice hunt cats. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life!” Then she looked down the road and saw a milkman, a cart and a horse. The cart was pulled by the milkman, and the horse sat on the cart and urged him on: “Nn-oo!” The milkman had to hurry. Then Murr met two children with their parents. Children reprimanded their parents:

- Hey, Alice! Wake up! - she shouted.

Alice woke up, turned over and flew on as if nothing had happened. And then the sun set, the moon and stars shone, the milkman’s horse pulled the cart itself, Gav chased Murr, and Murr chased the mice until they hid again in the laundry basket. Murr was very hungry and hurried to the kitchen to feast on fish and milk. And lazy Alice returned to her nest at the very top of the tree, made herself comfortable and fell asleep.

- Carr! - she said, falling asleep. – What a funny dream it was!