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. Look at the rhyming words in the book. Is there a pattern to the rhyming? Can you think of other words that rhyme?

Room on the Broom has a delightful rhyme that almost sounds like song, or music - any picture book that rhymes like this is a pleasure to read out loud. The story just flows so well, it's fun to read, and pleasurable to the ear. Doesn't stop a kid from interrupting, though! 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. 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. 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 have a little boy and love reading to him, so this reading list will cover the classic (and new) children’s stories we’re enjoying together.

And you can never get them started on fantasy too young - good witches and bad dragons - perfect! We'll get him reading Tolkien before he's ten...

The ‘horrible beast’ that rises from the ditch makes lots of strange noises. Can you think of other animal noises? Can you find other examples of onomatopoeia?My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes. The rhymes are wonderful and the characters are lovable. The TV show is so well done that it outshines the book a bit, at least for someone who saw that first and read the book later. They adapted the show faithfully to the work and it fills in many gaps. Still, everything is here in the story, accept that the cat does not want the other animals on the broom. That was added for the show. But the glee of the witch is here with her loyal animals. Anyone with small children (and older ones too, I'm sure) will be familiar with Julia Donaldson, in particular The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, which - along with Room on the Broom - have been made into animated films that regularly show on the ABC. My son, at three, enjoys the books but finds the movies too scary - he's still young like that. The book was made into an audiobook narrated by Josie Lawrence and adapted for the stage by Tall Stories Theatre Company in 2008, and has toured around the United Kingdom and the rest of the world since then.

Read the description of the ‘horrible beast’ that rises from the ditch and use it to draw the creature. It was first published by Macmillan in 2001 ( ISBN 9780803726574) and since been made into an animated film, narrated by Simon Pegg and starring the voices of Martin Clunes, Rob Brydon, Sally Hawkins, David Walliams, Gillian Anderson and Timothy Spall. The animated film was nominated for an Academy Award for best short animated film in 2013. [3]

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The witch is grateful to the animals for saving her life. Think of things that you are grateful for. How could you say ‘thank you’ for these? Look at the different types of landscapes the witch flies over.Can you find similar landscapes near your local area using a map or an atlas? Look at the expressions of each of the characters in the illustrations. Can you describe how they are feeling? Could you draw your own pictures which show different people’s emotions?

A really good read-aloud story, with great rhythm, rhyme and repetitive elements. My son is 16 months old, and Room on the Broom is currently his second favourite book - he goes and gets it himself from his book shelf most days, which is really cute.Admittedly his favourite book in the whole wide world is a bland little story about monkeys - but it does have a button which makes monkey noises when you press it, so I can see the appeal! This, archetype-ally, is about the power of the Crone. She cares for others and they become loyal to her. They area force for good. She is not alone after all her children are gone. It's a great representation of that. Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my BEDTIME STORIES list. Noisy books aside, this is the best. He likes to point at the witch and the cat and the dog and the bird and the frog. He likes to mimic the dramatic, booming, Brian Blessed-esque voice I used for the ' down came the broom' line, around which each verse hinges.