Axel Scheffler: 25 years of The Gruffalo

Axel Scheffler, beloved and highly celebrated illustrator of The Gruffalo, The Highway Rat and many more family favourites, joins us on Authors Live to mark 25 years of The Gruffalo. We hear about how Axel created some of children's literature's best-loved characters, listen to a reading of Axel and Julia Donaldson's newest collaberation Jonty Gentoo: The Adventures of a Penguin, and follow along as Axel teaches us how to draw both Jonty and the Gruffalo. Pencils and paper at the ready for this very special episode of Authors Live!

If you only do one thing...

We know time is tight, so here is just one activity you can complete with your class before or after watching this broadcast.

Let's draw small! (EXA 1-02a, EXA 1-03a, EXA 1-05a) During the broadcast, Axel talks about how much he loves "drawing small". How small can you draw? Using the smallest piece of paper you can find (post-it notes are great for this!) see how many tiny things you can fit on one piece of paper. If you're stuck for ideas, why not imagine you're drawing the contents of Jonty Gentoo's suitcase so he has plenty of useful things to take with him on his travels?

For more expressive arts and drawing learning ideas, see our resource below: