OF BEDTIME STORIES
1 Shaun the
Sheep: The Flight
before Christmas
The mischievous
sheep is back for
another festive
adventure. This
year, a plot to steal some stockings
goes wrong and Timmy the sheep
goes missing.
BBC1, Christmas Eve2 Worzel
Gummidge
Mackenzie Crook
returns as the
beloved scarecrow
for two 50-minute
films. The revival of
the 1970s classic will keep
grandparents and kids entertained.
The comedian and Strictly Come
Dancing champion Bill Bailey makes
a cameo. BBC1, Dec 28-293 Terry Pratchett’s
the Abominable
Snow Baby
This Christmassy
animation follows
a 14ft-tall monster
who is shunned by
the locals of an English village.
Luckily, a granny (Julie Walters)
and her grandson (Hugh Dancy)
are on hand to help.
Channel 4, Christmas Day4 Robin Robin
Aardman’s latest
animation is a tale
about a young
robin who is raised
by a family of
mice. A charming
new Christmas classic. Netflix5 A Boy Called
Christmas
Adapted from Matt
Haig’s children’s
book, this fantasy
show follows a
young boy who
goes on a quest to find his missing
father, aided by a pet mouse.
Sky CinemaJake Helm5 CHRISTMAS TV
GIFTS FOR KIDS
sons, Hamish, took his own
life, aged 25, after a long,
difficult struggle with mental
health. The family had help for
years, but nothing worked
and it is not, understand-
ably, something she wants
to discuss. Still, it creeps
into conversation and
her work. Running on
the Cracks, her book for
teenagers, was inspired
by him — “I wanted to write a
survival story” — while The
Christmas Pine finishes
with: “But think of me when
I am gone; remember how I
grew and shone. And may the children
grow and shine, grow and shine like
the Christmas pine.”
I say it is a sad line and she thinks it
is too, but, also, hopeful. She says it is
wish-fulfilment and, actually, that kids
find the line happy, while only parents
find it sad. The ones with longer futures
are the ones unaware that those futures
will end.
“It’s just life,” she says with a sigh. “I
often write about generations taking
over. So in Tabby McTat, the kittenshe tends to write fables, and about
animals, which do not date; partly
because, unlike, say, her fellow chil-
dren’s great Oliver Jeffers, who has envi-
ronmental themes in his books, Don-
aldson rarely fits contemporary
concerns into her tales — not that she
isn’t asked to. “I’m always told by chil-
dren to write this or that,” she says.
“‘Why don’t you write about a double
amputee?’ ‘Someone with two dads?’
But the best books are those written
when authors write what they want to
rather than what someone has told
them they should be writing.”
OK, but how about a sequel to Stick
Man — in which a bold, lost, devoted
twig tries to get home to the family
tree? “I’ve often thought about if the
family tree is cut down,” she admits.
“A little bird in the tree breaks its wing
and the rest have migrated, so the stick
family have to help it find its way.”
The reason that Donaldson’s books
have sold so well is that she manages to
entertain and empathise, with adults
and children alike. That is no mean feat
in a world of children’s entertainment
that most parents want to switch off
and a hugely impressive level of cul-
tural dominance given how many digi-
tal alternatives there are to be dis-
tracted by these days.
As an author, is she concerned how
much time children spend on phones?
“I have more concerns about the
adults,” she says. “You see a child trail-
ing behind their adult who is on the
phone and that’s really bad. If we’re so
concerned about children we shouldn’t
use phones so much ourselves.
“I also have the same concerns most
have about people’s confidence being
dented and horrible things being said
online. I’m just glad I didn’t grow up
with that and that my children didn’t
either.” All parents know about the
complications of children growing
up. Yet to hear it from Donaldson,
the godmother of the toddler years,
feels poignant. Before she leaves,
she signs a copy of The Christmas
Pine for my kids, which they now
proudly display. She looks out for
our children when the
cocoon is at its strong-
est, but that cocoon will
break. Who will look
after them then? cThe Christmas Pine
by Julia Donaldson and
Victoria Sandoy is out now
(Alison Green). Julia Donaldson
and Axel Scheffler’s Superworm is
on BBC1, Christmas Day at 2.30pmbecomes the new busker. In The Paper
Dolls, the girl makes her own dolls. It’s
a mixture of something new, but
remembering what has gone. With The
Christmas Pine another tree will come
next year, but it won’t be the same tree.
It’s like a new generation coming to
usurp the past.” She trails off. “You
don’t want to plan too much what the
message is. Some stories are deeper,
while others are just silly. Like Jack and
the Flumflum Tree.”
Donaldson fell in love with reading
after being given The Book of a Thou-
sand Poems as a child. She remembers
one about a mouse that she acted out
with her sister and performing is impor-
tant to her. She and Malcolm regularly
busked and still put on shows and sing.
She is worried about the impact of our
lockdowns on children. She fears that
those who lacked confidence
in the first place will never
want to sing again.
There is some-
thing timeless
about her work.
Partly becauseYou don’t want to plan
the message too much.
Some stories are deeper,
while others are just silly
19 December 2021 9