Within Walking Distance with Allan Ahlberg

Allan Ahlberg, the renowned and much loved children’s author, is a former pupil of Rood End Primary School, Langley. He’s the inspiration behind an exciting new augmented reality poetry project.

Friends of Langley Library, the lead organisation, secured an Open Access award from Creative Black Country to explore the authors work and explore where he grew up. The work is part of ‘Within Walking Distance’, a wider project mapping local landmarks in Langley.

Pupils and teachers from Rood End Primary School and the Q3 Academy Oldbury worked alongside award-winning poet, Emma Purshouse, Blue & White Creative and Reel Access. They produced written, visual and oral elements of the poems which were then animated into an augmented reality by Sehint Productions. 

The end results are a collection of fantastic, imaginative poems that bring to life the places the young people visited in their local area of Langley. The illustrations used on the front cover are inspired by Allan’s wife Janet Ahllberg and the Funnybones collection she created with her husband.

The young people’s response to the project has been great. Many have commented on how much they learnt about Langley on the ‘Within Walking Distance” walks and some have independently started to discover the joys of poetry inside and outside the classroom. 

Please take a look at how the animated poems come to life by downloading the Aurasma App, and Commemorative Poetry books and follow, ‘Within Walking Distance’. If you don’t wish to download the books simply point at the front covers on screen. 

An explanation on how to use the app here: AURASMA HOW TO DOWNLOAD.

If you want to find out more about the project please email friendsoflangleylibrary@gmail.com