Aurora, 61497, Janet, The Smed and the Smoos, Eco-friendly soft toy, Red

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I feel conflicted about The Smeds and the Smoos. A Smed and a Smoo fall in love despite multiple warnings from their grandparents about why they should be avoiding each other, but unlike Romeo and Juliet this love story has a happy ending. Op ‘n verre planeet woon daar Smooie en Smoue. Smooie is rooi, slaap in beddens, speel graag in water, drink pienk melk en eet brood. Smoue is blou, slaap in gate wat hulle self gawe, speel graag op hulle heuwel, drink tee en eet groen bredie. Fleur, ‘n mooie jong Smooi, se oupa het haar nog altyd teen Smoue gewaarsku soos wat Fanie, ‘n knap jong Smou, se ouma hom nog altyd teen Smooie gewaarsku het. Maar eendag ontmoet Fleur en Fanie en begin skelm saam speel totdat hulle, jare later, besluit om te trou. Maar o wee, die familie…… Dit dwing Fleur en Fanie om ‘n plan te beraam om hulle families anders te oortuig. One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.

Tall Stories know a thing or two about adapting Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s books for the stage. This is their fourth one and there is a gentleness about their production – and a lovely sense of enfolding the young audience into the action – that does Donaldson’s mesmerising works great justice. The dramaturgy isn’t perfect (too much filler!) but this is my son Benji’s first visit to a proper theatre and, other than a few lapses in concentration, he has a wonderful time. Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers. ALSO READ: ‘Outlaws’ heartthrob Mnqobi Kunene on his breakthrough role: ‘It was meant for me’ WORKING DURING THE PANDEMICSo a couple of our old comrades from Triggerfish made the move over to the UK for this project and other projects. Annike Pienaar was our animation supervisor, James Mann was our shot supervisor, Tamara Polonyfi was our head of surfacing, and Shannan Taylor came on as our art director at the end. It was so comforting to have these long relationships that we could trust.”

As with all previous Julia Donaldson festive adaptations on BBC1 there's an all-star voice cast for BBC1's latest Magic Light Pictures offering The Smeds and The Smoos, which is narrated by The Shape of Water star Sally Hawkins... This story reminds me a bit of Romeo and Juliet, and the film adaptation of Gnomeo and Juliet as they all focus on a forbidden love based on family views. Make a list of the ways that the Smeds and the Smoos are similar / different. Is being different from others a bad thing? The all-star cast will see double Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape Of Water) as Narrator, joined by Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton) as Grandmother Smoo, Bill Bailey (Strictly Come Dancing champion) as Grandfather Smed, Meera Syal (Roar) as Aunt Smed and Rob Brydon (Gavin And Stacey) who will be returning for his tenth Magic Light film as Uncle Smoo, Ashna Rabheru(Sex Education) as Janet and Daniel Ezra (All American) as Bill.Adjoa plays Lady Agatha Danbury in the series Bridgerton and has starred in Silent Witness, Broadchurch, The Awakening, The Bill, Casualty and Doctor Who. She also starred in EastEnders in the 1990s, playing Karen. There are lots of made-up words in this book. Can you make a glossary to explain what they all mean? Could you make up some of your own words and write definitions? Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta. Design your own alien and create a character profile for it. Where does it live? Does it have any special abilities? Can the Smeds and the Smoos learn to get along? (Image credit: BBC) The Smeds and The Smoos voice cast on their roles