Nursery World - Talk to the animals

A visit from the puppet cast of Dr Dolittle was a great learning experience, says Linda Holmes of the Rocking Horse Nursery, Newbury The opportunity to invite some of the amazingly realistic puppets from the stage production 'Dr Dolittle' to our nursery was too good to miss. It was almost like having a zoo come and visit - but without the mess.

The opportunity to invite some of the amazingly realistic puppets from the stage production 'Dr Dolittle' to our nursery was too good to miss. It was almost like having a zoo come and visit - but without the mess.

Gub Gub the pig, a goat, a duck called Dab Dab, a huge hairy sheepdog, Polynesia, the parrot who taught Dr Dolittle to actually talk to the animals, a seal and even a skunk came along with two professional puppeteers. They left behind the Pushmi-Pullyu and a massive pink sea snail that needs a huge lorry to carry it.

The daughter of one of our nursery nurses is deputy stage manager with the touring stage show and we were lucky to be able to arrange the free visit through her when the company was performing nearby. Some theatre companies do make similar trips if you contact them directly (it's great advertising for them) so it is useful to keep an eye on what's due to appear in neighbouring theatres.

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