CLEVER COOKIE bible

  CHILDREN SHOULD BE SEEN AND HEARD !

P FO

M ‘STO

by Emma Wolfin Golding

S’

ID RK

2

3

CLEVER COOKIE

Design & illustrations by Omer Gaash

4

CLEVER COOKIE

Children should be seen and heard

Š 2010 Emma Wolfin Golding.

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Emma Wolfin Golding.

5

b a In

It's about bringing everyone together, regardless of differences, through rhythm, music and fun.

6

ep e p k s eu a e id pl s s i th

this s

ide

eat Clever Cookie and her friends are crazy about rhythm and music.

They sing and play music together and have an amazing ability to find/hear rhythm in everything, using anything as an instrument. Together they go on adventures, often in Jongly Park, learn and discover new things about the world, overcome obstacles and challenges, all against a backdrop of rhythm and music to guide them.

The TV show has a theme tune that includes a capella singing, finger clicking and clapping so that kids watching can join in from the moment it starts.

Every episode features a new song which is simple enough to follow and catchy enough to be memorable. For example, an episode about cooking includes lots of rhythm around banging on saucepan lids with various utensils, using jars of sprinkles as shakers, moving egg whisks across the draining board – all to create a beautiful cacophony that kids watching will want to join in with!

Cookie has a special rhythmic knock that she uses to signal her arrival anywhere, and infact, each character has their own mini ‘theme tune’ which sometimes intertwines with those of others when they meet. This isn’t quite Peter & The Wolf but the same idea of signature tunes for each character applies.

Let's meet the kids

7

pl thiseas k sid eep e up

pu edis siht

this

side

up

p p ee u k e s d a is e l s p ih t

8

Main Characters

9

CLEVER COOKIE

The lead character

Clever Cookie is a fun, bright little 6-year-old girl, who has a vivid imagination and finds and hears rhythm and music in everything. She is often tapping out a rhythm, even subconsciously, wherever she is, and she likes to make up songs. Whenever faced with a new challenge or problem to solve, rhythm and music are her first recourse. Cookie is the ‘leader’ of the group, which comprises herself, her sister Potch, her drums -obsessed first cousin, DX and his best friend Jimi.

Cookie is pretty and cool, but not so pretty and cool that she intimidates others. She is popular, but not in a cheerleader kind of way. She has her own unique sense of style, a little dreamy, slightly hippie-ish and very non-judgmental. She is extremely likeable and

10

Cookie has a catchphrase ’We did it together‘ !

usually smiling. She is big on giving the benefit of the doubt. “Maybe he thought this instead of that”, is something she might typically say.

Each character in Cookie’s world has an icon that represents them, that they always wear or with which they are always associated. For Cookie, it’s a yellow flower, representing happiness and peace. She just wants everyone to get along nicely and have a good time along the way.

11

Potch

Clever Cookie’s 4-year-old sister Potch is a mischief-maker. Her heart is in the right place, but she is a naturally rebellious soul who knows that rules can sometimes be bent. She is good at thinking laterally when solving problems the group encounters because she doesn’t necessarily feel the need to do things conventionally.

She has a wicked sense of humour and laughs a lot. Sometimes she plays tricks on the others, which annoys them, but she always ends up being forgiven by them. She likes to make people laugh so they can all laugh together.

12

e

She has this thing about the kitchen pots, pans and spoons - anything she can get to make different sounds and ensure that her “voice” is heard.

e h

Potch loves butterflies and always likes to wear something with a butterfly on it. She has this thing about the kitchen pots, pans and spoons - anything she can use to make different sounds and ensure that her “voice” is heard.

Potch and Cookie are firm friends as well as sisters. They adore each other, look out for each other and sometimes fight, just like all siblings!

13

DX

Cookie and Potch’s first cousin DX is a 6-year-old boy who is obsessed with drums. His mum and dad bought him a drum kit for his 6th birthday and he plays it all the time (much to their despair). He is a typical boy, a real boys’ boy, but he is happy to play with Cookie and Potch and they

are

happy

to

let

him

drum

on

anything

that

moves

(or doesn’t move).

DX’s defining icon is his baseball cap which he always wears backwards - he doesn’t go anywhere without it. He is laid back, good company and always open to new ideas.

14

JIMI

DX’s best friend Jimi is DX’s best friend and is also 6 years old. Jimi and DX met on the first day of school and became firm friends immediately. Jimi and his 8-year-old sister Toffie live round the corner from DX and his family and they are often at each other’s houses playing music and rhythm together.

Jimi is guitar-crazy, especially about creating special sound effects with his guitar, like twangs, wah-wah sounds and slides. He is always experimenting with new sounds and riffs.

Jimi, DX and Roxy Blue (another musical friend) are known as the Gezorenklatz Gang, as they like to jam together as a band and sometimes perform songs for their parents or at school.

15

16

Secondary Characters

17

ROXY BLUE Roxy Blue, age 8, is somewhere in the same ballpark as Janice from Dr Teeth’s band in The Muppet Show or a bit like a mini-Fergie from the Black-Eyed Peas.

Roxy Blue is cool, fun, very into the blues - she’s always riffing on some lyric or other or humming a tune to herself. She often comes up with various rhythms, a bit rap-like at times, that the others can join in with. She goes to school with Toffie and they are good friends despite being very different from each other.

Roxy Blue is often dancing – and encouraging others to dance with her.

Roxy Blue’s defining features are her beret, which she always wears tilted to one side and her cowboy boots, which she is never seen without. In one episode where she has to take them off, it is a big deal for her.

She is pretty, happy-go-lucky and a little ditzy, which sometimes annoys DX & Jimi, but they love her anyway.

18

TOFFIE

Jimi’s big sister

Toffie, also aged 8, and her brother Jimi could not be more different. She doesn’t fit into the world of Cookie and her friends. She is snooty and a bit stand-offish, but not actually mean. Think Mary Poppins – prim, proper, sensible, responsible, smart – but she does have a daring side, if it can be brought out in her.

Toffie’s defining features are her violin and her very neat hair, which represents the order in life that she values so much. Because she doesn’t understand improvisational rhythm, Toffie often dismisses it as not being ‘proper’ music. She represents the grown-up world somewhat. Although she desperately wants to be grown-up, she can easily be softened up under the infectious influence of Cookie and her friends’ rhythm and music. Toffie represents adults who have forgotten that life can be fun, if they just let it be.

19

Cookie and her friends spend a lot of their time in Jongly Park where Mrs Fine From The Park runs a kiosk selling child-friendly snacks and treats.

MRS. FINE FROM THE PARK Mrs. Fine From The Park (as she is always referred to) is the lady who runs the kiosk in Jongly Park. She has a listening ear and acts as a mentor figure to all the kids. She loves giving them treats and listening to all of their adventures. She also sometimes helps them solve problems and to make sense of the world.

Mrs. Fine From The Park has grandchildren of her own who live “far far away”. As she doesn’t see them very often, she misses them very much and is always happy to see Cookie and her friends, often offering guidance that only an older wiser person can.

Mrs. Fine From The Park is the voice of reassurance and the children trust her completely. Mrs Fine From The Park has a deep understanding of music and has a magical way of encouraging the children, sometimes joining them in making music.

20

BO JO

UNCLE AND AUNTIE

DX’s Mum and Dad

DX is the elder of Uncle Bo and Auntie Jo’s two sons. Zak is the younger son who’s recently turned 1. Uncle Bo is Cookie’s Mum’s brother. He plays guitar, piano and saxophone and is a professional session musician. Though successful, he is not famous. He spends a lot of his time on the road with his band but is devoted to Auntie Jo, DX and Zak and always brings home presents and memorabilia for his family.

He is an all-round good bloke and the epitome of cool. DX worships him. A proud father, he believes in bringing people together through music. He is beloved by all.

His defining feature is his Trilby-style hat. Sometimes, he puts things on the band of his hat, for example, if it’s Christmas time, he might add a sprig of holly.

Auntie Jo is the cool, rock-chick wife of Uncle Bo. She adores her husband and sons but spends a lot of her time looking after DX and Zak by herself as Uncle Bo is on the road a lot. She is funky but not tarty, classy but not formal. She sometimes sings with Uncle Bo and she is a Spanish teacher at the local secondary school.

She often calls DX her ‘little hombre’.

21

Twillows

22

Setting

23

JONGLY PARK Jongly Park is the regular hang-out for Cookie and her friends. Mrs Fine From The Park is always there at the kiosk, so they feel safe and reassured.

In the park there are twin weeping willows – the Twillows – that the children play around. It is a place of solace for the kids and there is an underground ‘lair’ underneath the tree that Cookie and her friends go to sometimes, to make music or just to play in.

Sometimes, Cookie and her friends have an ice cream or some other treat at Mrs Fine From The Park’s kiosk.

24







       

Jongly Park is an important place to Cookie and her friends. They spend a lot of their time after school there and always have a great time.

25

Twillows 26

27

28

Episodes synopses

29

pisodes Synopses

Sound Bites Cookie and Potch need to go to the dentist but DX makes them scared to go as he had a bad experience there when he broke his tooth falling out of the Twillows (told in flashback). Uncle Bo tells them that the dentist’s surgery is full of interesting rhythms and that it is a good place, helping them all to see it in a different light. cookie and potch go to the dentist and learn about all the different sounds, with the help of a friendly dentist, then come home and make up a song about looking after your teeth, replicating some of the new sounds they heard at the dentist’s.

It Takes All Sorts Cookie, Potch, DX and Jimi decide to put on a musical show for Mrs Fine From The Park. Jimi’s older sister Toffie wants to join in on her violin but the others don’t want to let her, so she goes home upset. The others all go back to Jimi and Toffie’s house and sit outside Toffie’s room listening to her play the violin from behind the closed door. Jimi gets out his guitar and starts riffing along with her, which disturbs her so much she comes out asking him to stop playing. When she realises he is just trying to find a way to meld the different styles of music, she lets him into her room and they create a new song together, where both styles can be included.

They go to Mrs Fine From The Park and play her their special new song.

A Friend In Need On her way home from school one day, Roxy Blue goes to Jongly Park on her scooter when suddenly one of the wheels breaks. Upset, she climbs up into the Twillows to play, leaving her scooter leaning against the tree’s trunk. Meanwhile, Toffie comes to Jongly Park after school to buy herself an ice cream and sees Roxy Blue’s broken scooter at the bottom of the Twillows. Although Toffie and Roxy Blue are in the same class, they are not really friendly as they are so different. But Toffie offers to help fix Roxy Blue’s scooter and from then on, they become firm friends, despite their differences. Toffie plays a little jig on her violin to which Roxy Blue dances, showing that differences can be celebrated.

30

pisodes Synopses

Hide & Seek Cookie and her friends are playing hide and seek in Jongly Park. Cookie hides up in the Twillows and nobody can find her. When she wants to get down, she realises she can’t. She notices that on one of the branches, somebody has tied some chimes, and takes out a pencil from her pocket to use as a drumstick to play the chimes. Her friends hear her and come to try and rescue her from up in the tree.

They all have to agree on the best way to rescue her, and work together using their individual strengths.

The Raindance Kids Cookie and Potch wake up one morning to the sound of raindrops on the window and roof. They get excited to go outside to play in the rain but they can’t find their wellies. DX comes over to play and says he found their boots on the front doorstep soaking wet. They put the boots to dry in the boiler room and while they dry, they decide to do some painting. They make a huge mess and as their boots aren’t dry yet, they decide to go out in the rain to clean themselves off with the water without their boots on, making lots of paint-coloured mess all over the back yard and literally making a song and (rain) dance out of it!

A Different Drum Cookie and Potch are making DX a birthday cake. Potch drops the eggs, which they needed, so Cookie suggests they go to borrow some eggs from Mrs Fine From The Park’s kiosk in Jongly Park. Meanwhile, DX gets a new drum kit for his 6th birthday. When he opens the kit, one of the drums is missing. To get over his disappointment, he goes to Jongly Park, where he runs into Cookie and Potch.

Before asking Mrs Fine From The Park for some eggs, Cookie sees her emptying the rubbish and banging on the side of the bin rhythmically, so Cookie tells DX that he could use his kitchen bin as a drum while he waits for the missing drum to arrive.

Cookie and Potch return home to make the cake, while DX is happily playing his ‘new’ drum, when we see the delivery van bringing his replacement drum to his house.

31

xcerpt – Sound Bites

Sound Bites In DX’s bedroom, DX and Jimi are playing with toy cars and planes together.

DX Hey Jimi, look at this helicopter (he swoops the toy helicopter down from as high as he can reach and makes a helicopter propellor noise) JIMI Yeh but look at this (he takes a toy fire engine and makes a siren sound, then puts down the fire engine and tries to replicate the siren on his guitar) DX Wait a sec - do that again! (he gets out his drumsticks and starts to play on the floor while JIMI continues to create a siren riff. They start to make a good rhythm together.)

There is a knock at the door - it’s COOKIE and POTCH who’ve come round to play.

COOKIE Hi DX, hi Jimi, can we come and play?

DX Yeah!

JIMI Hi Cookie, hi Potch.

DX We’re just making some sounds of helicopters and fire engines. Wanna join in?

32

xcerpt – Sound Bites

COOKIE Sure! But we can’t stay for too long cos we have to go to the dentist later.

POTCH I don’t want to go to the dentist. I want to stay here and play.

COOKIE Yes but Mum said we have to have our teeth checked.

POTCH But Mum can check them!

DX Nah, Potch, the dentist is someone who looks after your teeth and they can even fix your teeth if you break them. I had to go to the dentist last year when I broke one of my teeth. I was playing in the Twillows in Jongly Park......

Flashback with DX’s voiceover

Jimi and I climbed up into the Twillows one afternoon after school and he brought his guitar to play. I broke off two branches to do some drumming on the tree and this little blackbird flew into the tree and gave both of us a bit of a fright. I fell down and hurt myself and broke the front bit of one of my teeth. So I had to go to the dentist and she had all these different things in her room (we see the drill, the chair going up and down, mouthwash swirling down the plughole and hear all the corresponding sounds/rhythms) and she fixed it for me. It did hurt a little bit but I didn’t cry and Mum gave me some ice cream afterwards anyway.

POTCH I don’t want to go to the dentist - it’s going to hurt my teeth!!!

33

UNCLE BO

CLEVER COOKIE

34

AUNTIE JO

POTCH

DX

MRS. FINE FROM THE PARK

JIMI

ROXY BLUE

TOFFIE

35

 

CHILDREN S SEEN AND

36

 

SHOULD BE D HEARD !

37

CLEVER COOKIE

by Emma Wolfin Golding

Design & illustrations by Omer Gaash