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Mr. Bear's Song

Following Fiona Garrick in her print shop, this short film reveals the story behind the creation of a children's book. Whether writing, engraving, mixing ink colours, operating a 100-year-old printing press or hand binding, she treats every aspect of bookmaking with extraordinary skill and craft. In the era of superstores and media conglomerates, Garrick takes us along on a special journey of careful, contemplative creation.
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Following Fiona Garrick in her print shop, this short film reveals the story behind the creation of a children's book. Whether writing, engraving, mixing ink colours, operating a 100-year-old printing press or hand binding, she treats every aspect of bookmaking with extraordinary skill and craft. In the era of superstores and media conglomerates, Garrick takes us along on a special journey of careful, contemplative creation.

Literature and Language - Canada Media and Communication Literature and Language All subjects
  • director
    Elizabeth Walker
  • producer
    George Johnson
  • executive producer
    Svend-Erik Eriksen
  • camera
    Kirk Tougas
  • sound
    Rob Simpson
  • editing
    Paul Lievesley
  • sound editing
    Michael Colomby
  • music
    Peter Bjerring

Education

Ages 5 to 18
School subjects
Arts Education - Visual Arts English Language Arts - Children's Stories/Fables Technology Education - Communications and Technology

This film demonstrates the use of a century-old printing press while telling the story of Mr. Bear’s song. Ideal for viewers who are studying the history of printing/bookmaking, and also for those who are learning how stories are developed into picture books with the care given to font, illustrations and graphic design. The film will lead to a discussion of the topic, and an extension would be to create an illustrated story and publish it using parts of this technique. Students could also complete research about the changes made to the publishing process over time. Different styles of storytelling could also be examined.

More educational content

Mr. Bear's Song
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Download-to-own (DTO) licence detail
Home licence (worldwide); Classroom licence (Canada only)

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