10 Julia Donaldson stories made real

Have you lost count of how many times you’ve read The Gruffalo to your kid? These are the very best Julia Donaldson stories that have leapt off the page to become animated classics your kids can watch again and again on Showmax.

1. The Snail and The Whale

Adapted from the picture book by Julia Donaldson, The Snail and the Whale tells the beautiful story of an unlikely friendship that forms when a snail hitches a ride for an incredible journey on the tail of a humpback whale.

2. Zog

From Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler’s 2010 picture book, with the incredible talent of Cape Town’s Triggerfish animation studio, comes this award-winning tale about a young dragon who really wants to win a gold star at Madame Dragon’s school, but collects only burns, bumps and bruises. And in year four, Zog will face his biggest challenge yet – kidnapping an actual princess.

3. The Highway Rat

Based on another of Donaldson and Scheffler’s bestselling children’s books, this short movie is about a greedy thief who always steals everyone’s food. But this time the Highway Rat has bitten off more than he can chew.

4. The Gruffalo

Narrated by Mother Squirrel (Helena Bonham Carter), this is the story of a little mouse (James Corden) who makes his way through the forest in search of food. He meets three scary predators on his journey – a fox, an owl and a snake – and to scare them away, he tells them that he is meeting an extremely fearsome creature called a Gruffalo, who loves eating foxes! And owls! And snakes! He succeeds in frightening them away … but then he runs into a real-life Gruffalo.

5. The Gruffalo’s Child

This follow-up to The Gruffalo won the Cristal award for the Best Television Special at Annecy, the world’s biggest animated film festival, and was nominated for a BAFTA. It’s set in a beautiful snowy wonderland, where the Gruffalo’s daughter decides to set off and find the Big Bad Mouse for herself.

6. Tabby McTat

Tabby McTat is about the warm and wonderful friendship between a musical cat and a talented busker called Fred. One day when chasing a thief, Fred falls and breaks his leg and is whisked away in an ambulance. What will become of the busker’s cat, left alone on the streets of London?

7. Room on the Broom

Join the kind witch as she and her cat fly through the clouds before some mishaps introduce them to a keen dog, a green bird and a clean frog. The witch lets their new friends on board her broomstick in the blink of an eye, though her jealous cat is less welcoming. But when they fly into the path of a fearsome enemy, even the cat is grateful for the help of their new pals.

8. The Smeds & The Smoos

The Smeds and The Smoos tells the story of two warring families whose children, Bill and Janet, fall in love and run away together. Hotly pursued by their grandparents, Grandfather Smed (comedian Bill Bailey) and Grandmother Smoo (Adjoa Andoh from Bridgerton), the two young aliens lead their families on a chase across space, giving them the opportunity to find out they have more in common than they think.

9. Zog and the Flying Doctors

Zog, Pearl and Gadabout are now a flying doctor trio, caring for their creature friends, including a mermaid, a unicorn, and a sneezy lion. However, when bad weather forces them to land at the palace, Pearl is locked up by her uncle, the king.

10. Superworm

Superworm is super-long and super-strong, and is always saving the day. But who can save him when he gets too full of himself and is captured by the evil Wizard Lizard?

Superworm’s voice cast includes Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Crown) as the narrator, Emmy nominee Matt Smith (House of the Dragon) as Superworm, and Ghanaian-British actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Paddington 2, Mary Poppins Returns) as the Wizard Lizard.`