The Highway Rat’s manners were ‘rough and rude’. Can you make a list of good manners to help the Highway Rat be nicer to others? Draw a picture showing the inside of one of the Highway Rat’s bags. What different items has he stolen? Create a price list for the cake shop and imagine that some customers would like to buy a selection of the cakes. How much will they need to pay? How much change will they need to be given? What coins would be used for this?

It seems to serve the development of comprehension skills and other social and emotional aspects of learning quite neatly. This firsthand knowledge has given me a comprehensive perspective on the collaborative efforts required to bring a vision to life on the silver screen. Absolutely marvelous! As an adult reader I totally adore the clever and delightful textual parody of Alfred Noyes' classic The Highwayman ballad (and indeed also much appreciate that with The Highway Rat, Julia Donaldson has just taken Alfred Noyes' external form and has not made her text content wise into some silly love story and her Highway Rat into a romantic type of hero, as no, that would in my opinion have made The Highway Rat annoyingly maudlin and not the engaging and so very much fun poetic parody of The Highwayman that it is).His unique storytelling style has made him a favorite among viewers. Similar media to ‘The Highway Rat’ 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. Her works, including ‘The Highway Rat’, are cherished for their engaging storytelling and beautiful illustrations. ‘The Highway Rat’ ending explained The author uses different words to describe how the Highway Rat speaks (e.g. declared, bellowed). Can you think of any more?

The Highway Rat is our new book for our Literacy lessons in Year 1. They have all really engaged with the story and the characters. It has provided us with many different discussion points - one child pointed out to me today that the Highway Rat is naughty not only because he steals people's food, but also because he talks to strangers! This gave us the opportunity to have a little PSHE talk about 'stranger danger', and why the Highway Rat has not been making good choices! Look at the use of speech marks within the story. Could you use these to turn the story into a play and perform it to others? The story of ‘The Highway Rat’ is set in a timeless, mythical landscape, giving it a universal appeal.

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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 Highway Rat’ is a delightful children’s picture book written by Julia Donaldson and beautifully illustrated by Axel Scheffler.