11-year-old Scarlett presents Living Paintings for CBBC’s Newsround!

It was ‘lights, camera, action!’ for Living Paintings’ member Scarlett last week, as she was hard at work filming a segment for CBBC’s Newsround that has her exploring the Living Paintings library, speaking with our incredible volunteers, and learning all about our Touch to See books.

We caught up with Scarlett to hear about her experience on set.

What was it like to film with Newsround?

“It was really fun to film with Newsround, because I got to experience something that nobody I know has experienced. The whole thing was really, really fun. I absolutely loved it.”

What was your favourite part of the day?

“My favourite part of the day was speaking with the volunteers and learning about how the Living Paintings books were made. I got to speak with two of the volunteers, Sheena and Brian, and learn about everything, from the braille and the carving to the raised illustrations. I liked that part a lot – I couldn’t stop smiling when Sheena was talking to me about them.”

What was the first book you got from Living Paintings?

“I got a few books the first time we ordered from Living Paintings. I got Spot Can Count, One Year with Kipper, The Wheels on the Bus, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. That was all the way back in 2016, and I still love to read Living Paintings books now.”

What’s your favourite ever Living Paintings book and why?

“My absolute favourite book from Living Paintings was Dipping into Science and Nature. I loved the audio track – the voice was so funny! – and I could learn all about the sea in a really fun way.”

How have things changed for you since discovering Living Paintings?

“If there wasn’t a service like Living Paintings, I don’t know how blind children would be able to read and really visualise the pictures. We wouldn’t be able to know the pictures and what they look like, and sometimes the pictures aren’t very clear. You have made the pictures really clear for blind people.

“I have younger cousins who are sighted, and I read the books to them whenever I can. They love it when I read to them. They said that I was really good at describing the pictures to them. They even said I was the best reader in the world. I still read to them now and we always have an amazing time whenever we’re reading together.”

Thank you so much to Scarlett (and to mum Chrissy) for being the perfect spokesperson for Living Paintings, and to CBBC’s Newsround for giving us a platform to spread our message to an audience of 3 million(!) viewers nationwide.