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

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So 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.” 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.” But peace is restored, and love conquers all in this happiest of love stories. Teaching Ideas and Resources: English

Make a list of the ways that the Smeds and the Smoos are similar / different. Is being different from others a bad thing? 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... Design your own alien and create a character profile for it. Where does it live? Does it have any special abilities? Write a sequel to this book? What might happen to the Smeds and the Smoos (and their new baby) next? Write a diary entry for Janet or Bill from a time when they crept off to play in the Wurpular Wood together.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.

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). 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.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. The Smeds and the Smoos visit other planets to find Janet and Bill. Can you imagine a new planet that they might explore?

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. 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. 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. 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 film has been acquired by Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer and Nawfal Faizullah, BBC Drama Commissioning Executive. Magic Light has been providing festive family treats to BBC One for over a decade, and their films, based on the books by the award-winning duo, are among the most popular family titles on BBC iPlayer.

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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 really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.

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. 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. 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. 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. Make up a new story about two people, animals or aliens who want to be friends but are not allowed.

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The story uses phonetically decodable words and rhymes throughout which would give children the opportunity to read the story for themselves and recognise word patterns. ALSO READ: ‘Outlaws’ heartthrob Mnqobi Kunene on his breakthrough role: ‘It was meant for me’ WORKING DURING THE PANDEMIC 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.