Mole and Ruby on the Road!

I’ve been fortunate to have had two of my picture books adapted for the stage in the last couple of years and both productions are about to go on tour.

Ruby Flew Too!, has been adapted by Topsy Turvy Theatre. Topsy Turvy is a Yorkshire-based children’s theatre company founded in 2010 and Ruby Flew Too! was their first ever show. They’ve done another show, The Lost Present, since but are bringing Ruby back for another tour starting at Burnley Youth Theatre on Tuesday 19th February. I didn’t catch the show when it first came out, but I’m planning to see it this time around and am really looking forward to it.

The company have made this video which shows them fooling around hard at work rehearsing for the show.

CLICK HERE to find out more about the production or CLICK HERE for current tour dates and links to the venues sites where you can book tickets.

After a successful Christmas run at The Pleasance in London, Peaceful Lion Productions are taking their adaptation of Bringing Down the Moon on tour. You can see some photos of the show in my earlier blog post here and read what I thought of the show (I loved it) here. Here’s another of Pamela Raith's photo's of the show.

The Bringing Down the Moon tour starts on Saturday 16th February at Salisbury Playhouse.

CLICK HERE to find out more about the production and see a list of current tour dates with links for booking tickets.


I’ve never had any of my books adapted for the stage before, so it’s lovely to have two shows touring at once.

Hot-Diggerty! What I thought of Mole's stage show.

I took the train down to London yesterday to see Peaceful Lion's new stage show of Bringing Down the Moon. Although it's not the first time one of my picture book's has been adapted for the stage, this was the the first time I'd been to see the show and I have to admit to having some trepidation about the experience - what if I hated it? Fortunately I LOVED it!

The show is currently running in the small "StageSpace" studio theatre at The Pleasance in Islington. I watched it with an enthusiastic audience of young children and their parents. Some of the audience had obviously read the book, as they kept shouting out what was about to happen, but that just added to the humour of what was a very entertaining performance.

In fact, if I have one criticism of the show, it would be that it's actually a little too funny; I'm worried that people might come out of it saying that it was much funnier than my book. I voiced this concern to the cast and crew afterwards and asked them if they could try to make subsequent performances a little less amusing, but I don't think they took my request seriously.

Aside from the uncomfortably high level of hilarity, it was a very enjoyable show with some great songs, lovely costumes and characterful performances from all the cast.

Here's me with the show's adapter and director, Ollie, and the cast,
John, Victoria, Fleur and Henry, after the performance.

Bringing Down the Moon Production Photos

I thought I'd share some of these gorgeous production photos of Peaceful Lion's new stage show of Bringing Down the Moon at The Pleasance Theatre in Islington with you.  They were all taken by Pamela Raith who specialises in performance photography.

Can you guess which character is which?

This character doesn't seem to have 20/20 vision.

But his friend seems to have plenty of bounce!

Who's this prickly looking musician?

This one looks a bit nutty!

It's very beautiful indeed ...

… but not as near as it looks!

You can see more photos of the show here.

Tickets are still available for many performances including the two on Saturday 15th December, when I'll be around to sign books afterwards. Click here to book tickets online.

Seven Stories Callum Events and Bringing Down the Moon Signings

Here’s news of a couple of events I have coming up in the next few months.

Seven Stories National Centre for Children’s Books,
Newcastle upon Tyne, 19th January 2013

I’ll be doing two events at Seven Stories featuring Callum’s Incredible Construction Kit. It’s my first trip to the centre, which I’ve been meaning to visit since it opened.

As well as reading the book, I’ll be talking about my own love of building things and how this has influenced many of my stories. At the end of each event, children will be able to make and decorate a simple Callum pop-up to take away with them.

Click here to book tickets for the event at the Seven Stories website, where you can also find out about the other wonderful exhibitions and activities that the centre has to offer. The centre takes up seven storeys of a converted Victorian mill, giving rise to its punning title.

Click here to find out more about Callum’s Incredible Construction Kit.


Pleasance Theatre, Islington, 15th December 2012

Before that, I’m going down to London to see Peaceful Lion Productions' new stage show of Bringing Down the Moon (see last blog post) and will be signing books after the 11.00am and 1.00pm performances on 15th December.  So come along and say hello!

Tickets are still available for both these performances as I write this, but other performances have already sold out, so CLICK HERE TO BOOK now if you'd like to see the show before having your book signed.

Bringing Down the Moon Stage Show

I’m delighted to announce that my picture book, Bringing Down the Moon, has been adapted into a stage show. You may have noticed an advert for it at the side of this blog for the last month.

The book, illustrated by Vanessa Cabban, is the first in the Mole and Friends series and has been translated into 20 different languages since its publication in 2001. It tells the story of what happens when Mole sees the moon for the first time and sets out to bring it down from the sky. His friends, Rabbit, Hedgehog and Squirrel keep telling him, “It’s not as near as it looks,” but Mole is determined to succeed.

The book has been adapted for the stage by Ollie Fielding for Peaceful Lion Productions and opens at the Pleasance Theatre in Islington this Christmas, before going on tour in 2013.

The show will be at the Pleasance from 4 December 2012 to 2 January 2013, with performances at 11.00am and 1.00pm.

The show's still being put together, but Peaceful Lion have sent me this photo of a model of the set, by designer Eleanor Field, which captures the atmosphere of Vanessa Cabban’s beautiful illustrations for the book.

They’ve sent me a couple of sketches of the costume designs for Hedgehog and Squirrel to share with you too. But if you want to see what Mole looks like — you’ll have to see the show. 

One performance is already sold out, so CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW!