Latest news with #AxelScheffler
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Hawke's Bay Roars For More: Extra Show Added For The Gruffalo At Toitoi This July
Blink and you'll miss it—tickets for The Gruffalo are vanishing faster than you can shout, 'Oh help! Oh no! It's a Gruffalo!' In response to overwhelming demand, Toitoi – Hawke's Bay Arts & Events Centre is thrilled to announce a fourth performance of the beloved show, set for 2pm on Friday, 4 July. The internationally acclaimed production, based on the award-winning picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, has captivated audiences around the world—from London's West End to Broadway. Now, in a rare treat for New Zealand families, this international hit will grace just two cities on its tour: Auckland and Hastings. That makes Toitoi the only regional venue to welcome this theatrical gem. 'We knew The Gruffalo would charm Hawke's Bay, but the demand has exceeded all expectations' says Glen Pickering, Toitoi's Presenter Services Manager. 'When international productions see how enthusiastically our community embraces world-class theatre, it puts Toitoi—and Hawke's Bay—firmly on the map. High-selling seasons like this one help us attract even more exceptional shows from around the globe to our region.' Presented by Tall Stories and CDP Theatre Producers, The Gruffalo brings the enchanting tale of a clever mouse and his imagined monster friend to life with sing-along songs, colourful characters, and vibrant staging. With all three existing performances down to the last few seats, the additional matinee is expected to sell quickly. Tickets for the new 2pm Friday performance are available now at and from the Hastings and Havelock North isites.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BBC's Annual Julia Donaldson Christmas Animation Will Be ‘The Scarecrows' Wedding'; Rob Brydon, Jessie Buckley & Domhnall Glesson In Voice Cast
The annual BBC animated Christmas special this year will The Scarecrow's Wedding. As is the case every year, a Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler children's book will be adapted by Magic Light Pictures for broadcast on BBC One and streaming on BBC iPlayer. More from Deadline BBC Drama 'Mr Loverman' Lands U.S. Home At BritBox Laurie Kynaston, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell & Alex Lawther Leading Feel-Good Drama Series 'Leonard And Hungry Paul' For BBC & RTÉ BBC Studios Restructures Production Division With Formation Of Unscripted & Global Units The half-hour animated special will feature a voice cast including Rob Brydon (Gavin and Stacey, The Trip), Jessie Buckley (Wicked Little Letters, Wild Rose), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time, Alice and Jack), with Sophie Okonedo (Slow Horses, Hotel Rwanda) as the Narrator. The story follows two devoted scarecrows, Betty O'Barley (Buckley) and Harry O'Hay (Gleeson), who are planning a wedding to remember. Per the synopsis: 'When Harry insists on leaving the farm to collect one last thing for their big day, a smooth-talking scarecrow named Reginald Rake (Brydon) swoops in with plans of his own. Chaos follows, and soon Betty's in danger and everything's at risk. Can Harry get back in time and save the day? Full of heart, humour and adventure, this is the joyful tale about loyalty, love and learning that the most important thing isn't a grand gesture – it's simply being together.' Directors are Samantha Cutler and Jeroen Jaspaert, with Barney Goodland and Micheal Rose of Magic Light Pictures the producers. The outgoing BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore and Nawfal Faizullah, BBC Drama Commissioning Editor, acquired the special. Donaldson's books have been the bedrock of the BBC's annual Christmas specials, with this being the 13th to be adapted. Last year's Tiddler took an audience of 7.3 million, which was the highest share for a Magic Light film since The Gruffalo in 2009. Her picture books remain among the most popular in the UK. It was recently announced she was writing a new 'Gruffalo' book, 21 years after the last one, 'The Gruffalo's Child', which was adapted by the BBC in 2011. 'The Scarecrows' Wedding is my favourite of all the books I've created with Axel Scheffler, so I'm extra specially pleased that it is to be this year's animated adaptation from Magic Light Pictures,' said Donaldson. 'It's a love story set on a farm by the sea, and the story contains a lot of comedy and a Hollywood-style villain. Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, added: 'We're incredibly proud of our enduring partnership with Julia, Axel and Magic Light Pictures, and can't wait to bring the Scarecrows' big day to millions of viewers across the UK this Christmas. Much like the wedding itself, this charming, funny and exquisitely animated adventure has all the perfect ingredients.' Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds All The 'Mission: Impossible' Movies In Order - See Tom Cruise's 30-Year Journey As Ethan Hunt Denzel Washington's Career In Pictures: From 'Carbon Copy' To 'The Equalizer 3'
Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler: I'm one of life's shy tortoises
Britain's bestselling illustrator, Axel Scheffler, identifies with a tortoise. We are discussing his latest book, Welcome, with text by the author Alison Green. It's not so much a story as a series of thoughts about being open-hearted to those who are different from you. Scheffler has filled the book with animals including a tiger, a crocodile, a squirrel, a tortoise and a badger in a wheelchair. When I ask him which one he relates to the most, he picks the tortoise because it's 'a little bit shy and quiet'. Scheffler is self-effacing but his successful career has forced him out of his shell. He has illustrated more than 200 books, including over 30 collaborations since 1993 with the author Julia Donaldson. Their rhyming trickster
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The secret meanings hidden in The Gruffalo - as Julia Donaldson confirms first new book in 20 years
After more than 20 years, one of the most successful children's books of all time is getting another installment. A new book in 'The Gruffalo' series, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, is set to hit the shelves in 2026. As any parent will likely know, the original tells the tale of a plucky mouse encountering a series of predators – including the eponymous two-horned beast. But if you thought there was nothing more to this best-selling picture book than a charming woodland narrative, you were wrong. According to a scientific study, this 'vibrant and complex text' has hidden political meanings which until now have been overlooked. The 700-word book 'offers an engagement with world politics' and an insight into 'sociopolitical worlds', the study claims. The study was conducted by Lee Jarvis, professor of international politics at the University of East Anglia, and Nick Robinson, professor of politics and international studies at the University of Leeds. As the experts point out, 'The Gruffalo' is a 'spectacularly successful' book with tens of millions of sales across dozens of languages since its publication in 1999. 'The Gruffalo' is the winner of the prestigious Nestle Smarties Prize, while a 2009 poll of BBC Radio 2 listeners identified it as the best bedtime story for children. Inspired by a Chinese folk tale, it tells the story of a mouse strolling through the 'deep dark wood' when he encounters three animals – fox, owl and snake. In turn, these three shady characters ask the quick-thinking mouse to accompany them home for a meal – whereupon they intend to eat it. Although this may sound like a traditional fairy tale set-up, the duo's thorough 9,000-word analysis of the book reveals a complex depiction of international politics with multiple meanings. Firstly, the wood is a metaphor for the world, while the fox, owl and snake are 'self-interested, survival-seekers' akin to global leaders. 'They're all sort of unitary actors that don't engage in any more meaningful way other than to attempt to satisfy their own self interests,' said Jarvis. In the book, the mouse manages to evade the fox, the owl and the snake by conjuring up the terrifying image of the fictional Gruffalo, which has 'sharp teeth', 'terrible claws', 'orange eyes' 'a poisonous wart on the end of his nose' and 'purple prickles all over his back'. This, the team argue, reflects a politician's or a world leader's tendency to invent empty threats to influence other global powers and get what they want. The Gruffalo: Basic plot The Gruffalo tells the story of a mouse strolling through the 'deep dark wood' when he encounters three characters - fox, owl and snake. In turn, these three characters ask the mouse to accompany them home for a meal - whereupon they intend to eat it. But the quick-thinking mouse evades them by inventing a fictional creature, the Gruffalo, with sharp teeth, terrible claws and a wart at the end of its nose. In a major twist about halfway through the book, the Gruffalo turns out to be real. The mouse then proceeds to show the other three creatures the Gruffalo, who all run away the terror. Believing that it's the mouse they find terrifying, the Gruffalo flees as well. Examples include Russian President Vladimir Putin's anti-British propaganda during its war on Ukraine, or Donald Trump's threats to build a wall between the US and Mexico. 'What the book does very nicely is to demonstrate successfully that security threats can be conjured up, can be created, said Jarvis. What's more, 'The Gruffalo' presents a 'fundamental decolonial critique' of the world – where multiple incompatible characters are able to cross paths. In this way, it hints at an increasingly unified world without borders or boundaries – potentially a metaphor for free-flowing movement of citizens. The academics do not claim that author Julia Donaldson was inspired by the global political landscape when writing the book in the 1990s. But they point out that she and illustrator Axel Scheffler have engaged directly in ongoing political conversations in the past. For example, Donaldson suggested that her 2019 book 'The Smeds and The Smoos' could 'very much be seen as a Remain book' following Brexit. Meanwhile, their collaboration on a series of cartoons explaining the Covid crisis include one of the Gruffalo and his child 'stay[ing] in the Gruffalo cave. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Review of International Studies, the paper demonstrates that children's picture books are not 'just for kids'. The authors argue that children's picture books are 'far from trivial, disposable curios' but instead 'important sites of world politics'. 'The Gruffalo's portrayal of mouse's encounter with four predatory carnivores may be read, simply, as a readily identifiable allegory of a characteristically realist anarchical world in which life is nasty, brutish, and short,' they say. 'Building on this, children's picture books also offer potentially important insight into the politics of resistance and/or social values. 'There is rich potential for future research in this nascent field.' Children's books are still dominated by MALE characters, scientists claim after analysing 3,000 stories Children's books are dominated by male characters while female protagonists are being underrepresented, a study reveals. Researchers analysed more than 3,000 fiction and non-fiction books published in the last 60 years, including the Harry Potter series. Although a higher proportion of books now feature female protagonists than in the 1960s, male protagonists remain 'overrepresented', according to the results. It's possible that publishing houses are more drawn to stories featuring male protagonists, which could negatively affect generations of young female readers. 'Parents and teachers appear to prefer classic books (with more male overrepresentation) and boys more than girls appear to have a preference for male characters,' study author Stella Lourenco at Emory University told MailOnline.
Euronews
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Gruffalo set to return next year with first book in more than 20 years
ADVERTISEMENT He's hairy. He's got sharp teeth. He's been outsmarted by a mouse. He's back. Yes, family favourite Gruffalo is returning to bookshelves next year in a brand new adventure – the monster's first in more than two decades. Publisher Macmillan Children's Books confirmed the news today, promising a fresh tale from British writer Julia Donaldson, following 1999's 'The Gruffalo' and 2004's 'The Gruffalo's Child'. The first two books – among the most popular children's titles in the world – are available in 113 languages and dialects, and have sold a combined 18.2 million copies worldwide. The original Gruffalo book has been adapted into plays and an Academy Award-nominated animated film – which is well worth seeking out. ETA for the new, as-yet-untitled story? September 2026. 'The Gruffalo' and 'The Gruffalo's Child' Axel Scheffler - Macmillan Children's Books Donaldson said she was inspired to write the third Gruffalo story after seeing how the National Literacy Trust (NLT) charity had used the previous tales in their work encouraging young children to read. "I actually had the basic idea for the story a long time ago, but couldn't think how to develop it," Donaldson said while announcing the forthcoming book. "It was only when the NLT used the first two books as part of their Early Words Matter programme that I was spurred on to get my idea out of the cupboard and see once and for all if I could turn it into a really satisfying story. To my surprise, I managed to do just that.' 'I was, of course, delighted when Axel came on board, and am even more so now that I've seen the brilliant sketches he's already done for the new book,' added Donaldson. Indeed, German illustrator Axel Scheffler is also back – which is even better news for fans of Gruffalo. Scheffler said: 'Never say never – a lesson learned for me who, whenever asked denied the possibility of another visit to the deep dark wood. Till one day out of the blue there came a wonderfully clever and inspired new text by Julia. How does she do this? Could I decline? Of course not!' Macmillan will be partnering with NLT and other charitable organisations across the globe for the publication of the new book, with plans to drive an international children's reading and storytelling campaign. Jonathan Douglas, NLT's chief executive, said: 'Reading and sharing stories is critical for shaping a child's early speech and language development and we can't think of a better way to support families in igniting their children's love of stories and reading than with the magic and influence of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's The Gruffalo." ADVERTISEMENT The third Gruffalo book will hit shelves in September 2026.
