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

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I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. 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. I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him). The Smeds And The Smoos is being directed by Daniel Snaddon (The Snail And The Whale; Zog) and Samantha Cutler, from a script by Julia Smuts Louw. Producers are Barney Goodland and Martin Pope. The composer is René Aubry, who has written the music for the collection of Magic Light films from Donaldson & Scheffler books. Animation services are being provided by Blue Zoo Animation Studio. Make up a new story about two people, animals or aliens who want to be friends but are not allowed.

The film will be the 10th TV adaptation by Magic Light Pictures of a Donaldson/Scheffler title for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The films have become firm fixtures in the Christmas schedules.Last year Superworm, which aired on BBC One on Christmas Day and starred Olivia Colman and Matt Smith, was the third most watched programme with eight million viewers (30-day all-screen figures). 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. It’s a massive honour for The Smeds and The Smoos to be recognised with an iEmmy,” says Julia. “The message of The Smeds and the Smoos is as timely today as it has always been: life too precious to spend it fighting over our differences. Kids’ movies (and books) are such an indispensable vehicle for cementing these crucial messages in the formative years. I’m so grateful to Magic Light for the chance and particularly to Julia Donaldson for trusting me with her words.”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. But peace is restored, and love conquers all in this happiest of love stories. Teaching Ideas and Resources: English The Smeds And The Smoos. Image Credit: J.Donaldson/ A.Sheffler. Licensed by Magic Light Pictures Ltd. The Smeds and the Smoos follows two young aliens. A Smed, named Janet and a Smoo named Bill. The Smeds and the Smoos are rival. Janet and Bills’ families tell them stories to warn them of the others. But Janet and Bill fall in love.

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. 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. Julia Donaldson se ‘Goorgomgaai’ en ‘Goorgomgaatjie’ is seker van die heel lieflikste moderne kinderboeke. Beide, asook hierdie een, se teks is in vrolike rymtaal en die volkleur illustrasies is deur Axel Scheffler. Die Afrikaanse vertaling is deur die alombeminde Jaco Jacobs en die boek is in ‘n pragtige groot hardeband formaat, perfek vir klein handjies van jong selflesers. Dis egter ewe geskik vir dramaties voorlees en prentjies wys vir die kleintjies en dra op ‘n speelse wyse die boodskap van ‘onbekend maak onbemind’ aan kinders oor. Volwassenes wat graag wil weet watter kleur ‘n rooi Smooi en ‘n blou Smou se baba is, kan gerus ook hierna loer.Daniel stars in the series A Discovery of Witches and All American. He’s also had roles in The Missing, Prime Suspect 1973, Undercover and Vera. This story feels hyper relevant when you look at everything that's going on in the world at the moment. Republicans vs. Democrats, Conservatives vs. Labour, everywhere you look it's a red vs. blue world and for little ones who have no understanding of politics and no idea why everyone is so angry at each other it must be quite scary. It feels like The Smeds and the Smoos has arrived at exactly the right time, bursting onto the scene to remind children that underneath we are all the same. It doesn't matter what colour you are, and oftentimes the people warning you to stay away from others have no idea what they're really talking about. Look at the other plants and creatures in the illustrations and think about how they might be adapted to living on the alien planet.

Julia Donaldson’s uses phonetically decodable alien words, such as ‘loobular lake’ and ‘glompoms’. This means that children are able to watch the decoding of alien words, modelled by a reader, or are able to practise decoding them themselves within a fun and memorable story, giving their work at school on alien words meaning and excitement. 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? I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. Read the title of the book first. What do you think it is about? What is a ‘Smed’? What is a ‘Smoo’? Where do they live? What might happen in the story? 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.This books follows the story of a smed and a smoo who are both warned by their families to avoid the other. One is red and the other is blue. Despite their families views the smed and the smoo run away together and get married. Whilst Janet and Bill have ran away, their families look for them and in the process begin to form positive relationships. Design your own alien and create a character profile for it. Where does it live? Does it have any special abilities? 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...

Make a list of all the rhyming words in the book. Can you think of other words that rhyme with those? 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.I think the story carries some good messages of tolerance and acceptance whilst appealing to a younger audience. It shows generational differences and views, demonstrating how the views of the younger generation are important and can help to open older generations to changing their views and beliefs.