Olga Da Polga
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Olga Da Polga
Olga da Polga is a fictional guinea pig, who is the heroine of a series of books for children written by Michael Bond and published between 1971 and 2002. Unlike Bond's more famous character, Paddington Bear, Olga is a teller of tall tales in the style of Baron Munchausen. The typical plot of each story is that something fairly ordinary happens to Olga, and she gives her animal friends a wildly exaggerated version of events, subsequently revealed to be untrue by what the humans say. Bond's books were memorably illustrated by Danish artist Hans Helweg, who was also well known for his "pulp fiction" covers for Pan paperbacks. His illustrations are still strongly associated with Olga, although later editions have used different imagery including artwork by Catherine Rayner for Usborne. Olga was named after the Bond family's real guinea pig: in 2014, '' Guardian'' journalist Michelle Pauli met Olga number six. In 2022, the BBC commissioned 13 episodes of a live-action TV series of ...
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Guinea Pig
The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the animal, while in scientific and laboratory contexts, it is far more commonly referred to by the common name ''guinea pig''. Despite their common name, guinea pigs are not native to Guinea, nor are they closely related biologically to pigs, and the origin of the name is still unclear. They originated in the Andes of South America. Studies based on biochemistry and hybridization suggest they are domesticated animals that do not exist naturally in the wild, descendants of a closely related cavy species such as '' C. tschudii''. They were originally domesticated as livestock for a source of meat, and are still consumed in some parts of the world. In Western society, the guinea pig has enjoyed widespread popularity as a pet since its introducti ...
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The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ...
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Literary Characters Introduced In 1971
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed. Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment, and can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role. Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such as biography, Diary, diaries, memoir, Letter (message), letters, and the essay. Within its broad definition, literature includes non-fictional books, articles or other printed information on a particular subject.''OED'' Etymology, Etymologically, the term derives from Latin language, Latin ''literatura/litteratura'' "learning, a writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from ''litera/littera'' "letter". In sp ...
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Characters In Children's Literature
Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theophrastus Music * ''Characters'' (John Abercrombie album), 1977 * ''Character'' (Dark Tranquillity album), 2005 * ''Character'' (Julia Kent album), 2013 * ''Character'' (Rachael Sage album), 2020 * ''Characters'' (Stevie Wonder album), 1987 Types of entity * Character (arts), an agent within a work of art, including literature, drama, cinema, opera, etc. * Character sketch or character, a literary description of a character type * Game character (other), various types of characters in a video game or role playing game ** Player character, as above but who is controlled or whose actions are directly chosen by a player ** Non-player character, as above but not player-controlled, frequently abbreviated as NPC Other uses in art ...
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Peter Gurney
Peter Gurney (9 March 1938 – 2 July 2006Gurney's death is variously reported as 1 or 2 July depending upon the source.) was an author and campaigner for the rights and welfare of guinea pigs. He was associated with the Cambridge Cavy Trust, founded by Vedra Stanley-Spatcher. Starting in 1990, Gurney was a regular hospital visitor to Great Ormond Street Hospital with five of his guinea pigs. The children called him "The Guinea Pig Man". Biography Born in Luton, Gurney attended Beech Hill Secondary Modern School. He was enlisted in the Royal Navy for his National Service, and drove buses and lorries for a living upon his discharge. At the age of 48 he bought his first guinea pig. Early retirement after a serious accident which left Gurney unable to drive allowed him to devote his attention to guinea pig medicine. Veterinary training did not concentrate on small pets, and Gurney found this sufficient spur to confront and complain about the self-regulation of the veterinary ...
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Greg Hemphill
Gregory Edward Hemphill (born 14 December 1969) is a Scottish-Canadian comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his work with Ford Kiernan on the BBC Scotland comedy series ''Chewin' The Fat'' (1999–2005) and ''Still Game'' (2002–2007, 2016–2019). Hemphill was Rector of the University of Glasgow (2001–2004). Personal life Hemphill was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Edward, a chartered accountant, and Anne Hemphill (née Brophy) a teacher. The family left Scotland in the mid 1970s, and he spent much of his childhood in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which has contributed to his distinctive accent, Scottish Canadians, Scottish-Canadian. He returned to Scotland in the late 1980s to study at the University of Glasgow, where he achieved an Master of Arts (Scotland), MA Honours Degree in theatre, film and television. He is married to actress Julie Wilson Nimmo, best known for playing Miss Hoolie in ''Balamory''. They got married in a hot air balloon whilst ...
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Julie Wilson Nimmo
Julie Wilson Nimmo is a Scottish actress and dancer. She is known for portraying the roles of Miss Hoolie in the BBC Children's series ''Balamory'', Mrs Sawdust in CBeebies show 'Olga Da Polga' and DC Megan Squire in the BBC Scottish television series Scot Squad. Career Nimmo started her career along with a lot of other Scottish actors and comedians in the 1995 sketch show '' Pulp Video'' which was partly written by her now husband Greg Hemphill and his co writer Ford Kiernan. Between 1999 and 2002, Nimmo was a regular star in the sketch show ''Chewin' the Fat'' by the same writers. She starred in all four series and the New Year specials. After taking a break from acting, Nimmo returned to the stage in Glasgow as So-Shy in a production of Sandy Wilson's pantomime musical ''Aladdin''. She also briefly appeared in the Scottish comedy television series '' Rab C. Nesbitt'', and played Elizabeth Macquarie in the docudrama, ''The Father of Australia''. In 2002 Nimmo starred in th ...
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CBeebies
CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older children ages 6–12. It broadcasts every day from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm, timesharing with BBC Four. History On November 20, 2001, the CBeebies name was officially revealed as part of the split of the already-existing CBBC block, and would be used as both a pre-school block and a digital channel. The CBeebies channel officially launched on 11 February 2002 alongside the CBBC channel, as a spinoff from the BBC's children's television strand. The first four shows to air on the channel were ''Teletubbies'', ''Binka'', '' Step Inside'', and ''Pingu''. CBeebies domestically broadcasts from 6 am to 6:58 pm, broadcasting 7 days per week, and as a result, it timeshares with fellow BBC channel BBC Four, which is on air after this channel goes off air for ...
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Usborne Publishing
Usborne Publishing, often called Usborne Books, is a British publisher of children's books. Founded by Peter Usborne in 1973, Usborne Publishing uses an in-house team of writers, editors and designers. One of its sales channels is Usborne Books at Home, a multi-level marketing operation founded in 1981. In the United States, Usborne books are published by Educational Development Corporation. Quicklinks Quicklinks were first introduced in 2000 as a way to incorporate the internet into modern reading habits. Peter Usborne has been quoted in the trade magazine ''The Bookseller'' as saying: "I initially thought that the internet would kill non-fiction, because teachers would tell children to use the internet to help with homework. But if you key in 'castles' [on a search engine], you get 900,000 possible websites. The internet is an inadequate resource for children." See also * List of UK children's book publishers References External links Official website of Usborne Publ ...
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Heroine
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero'' is often used to refer to any gender, though ''heroine'' only refers to women. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake of glory and honor. Post-classical and modern heroes, on the other hand, perform great deeds or selfless acts for the common good instead of the classical goal of wealth, pride, and fame. The antonym of ''hero'' is ''villain''. Other terms associated with the concept of ''hero'' may include ''good guy'' or ''white hat''. In classical literature, the hero is the main or revered character in heroic epic poetry celebrated through ancient legends of a people, often striving for military conquest and living by a continually flawed personal honor code. The definition of a hero has changed throu ...
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Catherine Rayner
Catherine Rayner is an Edinburgh-based British illustrator and writer of children's books. She was born in Harrogate in 1982, and grew up in Boston Spa, later studying at Leeds College of Art and Edinburgh College of Art. She won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2009 for ''Harris Finds his Feet'', and has been shortlisted in 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015. In 2014, ''Norris, The Bear Who Shared'' was named by The Sunday Times as one of the 100 Children's Modern Classics of the past ten years. Works Writer and illustrator * ''Augustus and his Smile'', Little Tiger Press, 2006 * ''Harris Finds his Feet'', Little Tiger Press, 2008 * '' Sylvia and Bird'', Little Tiger Press, 2009 * ''Ernest'', Macmillan Children’s Books, 2009 * ''Norris, The Bear who Shared'', Orchard Books, 2010 * ''Iris and Isaac'', Little Tiger Press, 2010 * ''Solomon Crocodile'', Macmillan Children’s Books, 2011 * ''Abigail'', Little Tiger Press, 2013 * ''Smelly Louie'', Macmillan Children’s Books, 2014 * '' ...
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Pan Books
Pan Books is a publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. Pan Books began as an independent publisher, established in 1944 by Alan Bott, previously known for his memoirs of his experiences as a flying ace in the First World War. The Pan Books logo, showing the ancient Greek god Pan playing pan-pipes, was designed by Mervyn Peake. A few years after it was founded, Pan Books was bought out by a consortium of several publishing houses, including Macmillan, Collins, Heinemann, and, briefly, Hodder & Stoughton. It became wholly owned by Macmillan in 1987. Pan specialised in publishing paperback fiction and, along with Penguin Books, was one of the first popular publishers of this format in the UK. Many popular authors saw their works given paperback publication through Pan, including Ian Fleming, whose James Bond series first appeared in pape ...
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