Form 4 spent their French lessons during Book Week creating their own Monsieur Madame (Mr Men & Little Miss) books. The project enabled the children to explore lots of new language, to practise their artistic skills and to tap into their creativity as they chose where their character lived, what their hobbies were, what they ate and drank and what they were like.
This year marks 45 years of the beloved British children's series, Mr Men, first created by Roger Hargreaves in 1971 and followed later by the Little Miss series. Today, the Mr Men and Little Miss series have sold over 100 million copies worldwide and have been translated into a multitude of languages including French, Mandarin, Hebrew, Spanish and Icelandic. In recent years, Fox Animation have acquired the rights to the characters and Mr Men: The Movie is currently in the works.
Head of French, Mrs Leisle Chippington, explained, 'When looking at the list of Mr Men & Little Miss titles in French, the children discovered that translators are creative in their work, thinking carefully about what they want to express, for example Mr Tired is not Monsieur Fatigué (a very logical suggestion from one pupil) but Monsieur Étourdi, Mr Sluggish.' Form 4's new characters ranged from Monsieur Glouton, Madame Têtue, Madame en Retard to Madame Oubliueuse and Monsieur Grincheux! One Form 4 remarked, 'I loved seeing all the different characters come to life and it was a really fun way to learn characteristics in French during Book Week.'
