Yahoo News Happy Valley star James Norton helps children learn about diabetes with CBeebies Bedtime Story
Actor James Norton will be helping young children understand diabetes and how it can be managed by reading a CBeebies Bedtime Story on TV.
The Happy Valley star, who has type one diabetes, will read How to Manage a Mammoth, written by Dr Rose Stewart and illustrated by Richard Dwyer. The book, created in collaboration with NHS Wales and published by Cambridge University Press, was written to help families explore how they feel about living with diabetes and encourages them to think of it as an animal, something which won’t go away but which they can learn to accept and manage.
In How to Manage a Mammoth, eight-year-old Jake is learning to live with his diabetes which he imagines is a mammoth called Mel. Jake and his mum join forces with their friends to work out how to shrink Mel the diabetes mammoth to a manageable size.
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James Norton, who was diagnosed with the condition at the age of 22, says: "My diabetes animal is a big shaggy dog called Bruce. When I first got Bruce, he was a puppy. He was difficult to control because he was always overexcited. Now, he's a bit older and calmer.
"He still gets scared when someone's at the door or he’s hungry. And then he barks very loudly. Or when he gets excited, he still runs around and knocks things over. But generally he strolls along by my side. Bruce is my pal. I'm pleased to say that today Bruce is under control and very calm, which makes me feel very happy and relaxed."
To help families with children who have diabetes, BBC Bitesize Parents’ Toolkit has published an article including advice on coming to terms with a diagnosis from James and tips on how to handle the condition from experts at Diabetes UK and the author of ‘How to Manage a Mammoth’ - Dr Rose Stewart.
James Norton’s CBeebies Bedtime Story will air on CBeebies at 6.50pm on Friday, June 14. A number of parents have praised James and CBeebies for helping to raise awareness of diabetes.
One said on Facebook: "Well done CBeebies. My husband has been type one since he was 5, looking forward to watching this with my daughter."
Another added: "Amazing. Mummy to a child diagnosed age 3. Far too much stigma and not enough awareness around such a difficult disease." A third wrote: "Love this!!!! My wee boy was diagnosed in Sept and I’m always telling him about James Norton and how he’s type 1!!! He’s fantastic at raising awareness!"
One parent commented: "Well done cbeebies, my daughter was diagnosed with type 1 when she was 11 months old! She's now 5! Will definitely be watching with her!"
And another said: "This is amazing! My little boy was diagnosed age 3, now 7! I think there is still so much stigma surrounding diabetes, it is great to educate from a young age. Well done CBeebies."
CBeebies Bedtime Story is on each weekday at 6.50pm on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer. A number of famous faces have previously appeared on the show including Harry Styles, Tom Hardy, Sir Elton John, Chris Hemsworth, Dolly Parton, Ed Sheeran, Ryan Reynolds, Kate Winslet, Steve Carell, Eddie Redmayne, Chris Evans, Michael Palin, England football captains Harry Kane and Leah Williamson, Dave Grohl and Tom Hiddleston.
