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Kevin Goes to the Library

Kevin Goes to the Library (Reading with Lenny)

24 Jan 1978
17m

ITV puppet series starring the famed Lenny the Lion as he helps children learn to read.

This series features ventriloquist Terry Hall (not to be confused with the singer from ska band The Specials) and his puppet, Lenny the Lion, over 20 years after they made their television debut. After appearing in the Eric Sykes comedy Dress Rehearsal on the BBC in 1956, Hall and Lenny quickly became famous stars, with their own children's and variety shows, including The Lenny the Lion Show, Lenny's Den and Pops and Lenny.

Subsequently, Hall and Lenny moved into more educational programming. In Reading with Lenny, they play word games and read stories featuring Kevin the Cat, with the goal of helping young viewers with their reading and encouraging a love of books. The Kevin the Cat stories were published separately as a spin-off from the series.

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Kid's TV

Our relationship with the small screen starts early in life, opening our square eyes to a heady mix of drama and comedy; fantasy and fact.

Dedicated children’s programming has been part of the television mix from its earliest years, growing from short intervals “For The Children” after WWII, to a plethora of standalone channels today. The start of the BBC’s long-running “Watch With Mother” series in 1953 set much of the template for pre-school television, blending puppets, song and animation, with the implicit expectation that mum - assumed to be a housewife - would supervise. Catering for older children, meanwhile, sought to balance the kinds of programmes children want to watch with those their parents want them to see. Eventually a fuller menu of drama, comedy, factual and magazine programmes for children - in other words, versions of 'grown-up' programmes for 'small people' - came to fill the schedules of weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings. Sadly, the segregation of children’s television to its own satellite, cable and digital channels has made its much less likely for adults to experience the frequent delights of kids’ TV. But our collection welcomes all ages! (Though please note that some programmes maybe flagged as unsuitable for young children.)

47 videos in this collection

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The Story of the Caveman

1971

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Diane's Panda Party [28/09/72]

1972

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Animal Kwackers [09/10/75]

1975

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Witches' Brew [28/12/72]

1972

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Origami [09/04/70]

1970

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Mr. Trimble [21/02/73]

1973

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Gathercole Bunch

1973

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The Distant Voice

1973

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The Challenge

1973

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Play It Again, Stewpot [25/07/74]

1974

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Play It Again, Stewpot [05/09/74]

1974

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A Handful of Songs [27/05/77]

1977

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Saturday Scene Road Show [11/05/75]

1975

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Big and Bigger

1975

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Mickey the Demon Barber

1981

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