Children's favourite comes alive on stage

The nation's number one bedtime story will be brought to life on the big stage when a production of The Gruffalo is staged at Birmingham Town Hall.

Fans of the magical children's book can join Mouse on an adventurous journey through the deep, dark wood in the magical, musical adaptation of the award-winning picture book by Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

The title was voted the nation's number one bedtime story by BBC Radio 2 listeners and has also been performed to well over a million people the world over. It has even hit the small screens in a star-studded TV animation.

The famous story centres on the a wheeler-dealer Fox and other characters who live in the deep, dark wood, including an eccentric old Owl and a maraca-shaking, party mad snake.

It follows Mouse, who has the ability to scare the hungry animals away with tall stories of the terrifying Gruffalo.

However, it reaches a dizzying climax when Mouse comes face to face with the very creature he imagined. The production lasts for just under an hour and is recommended for children aged three to seven, as well as for the young at heart.

It was won rave reviews from a number of critics, with The Observer describing it as a modern classic and The Sunday Times awarding it a four-star review and calling it a fine piece of children's theatre.

The Gruffalo has sold an incredible 10.5 million copies and won several prizes for children's literature, as well as being developed into plays on both the West End and Broadway.

It was originally published in 1999 in the United Kingdom as a 32-page hardback edition, was followed six months later by a paperback edition. It is just 700 words long and was written in rhyming couplets. Among the The Gruffalo's many awards was the 1999 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize and in November 2009 the book was voted "best bedtime story" by listeners of BBC Radio 2.

In a 2010 survey by UK charity Booktime, the book came first in a list of children's favourite books.

The Gruffalo is showing from Tuesday until Sunday, August 5 woith performances at 1.30pm and 3.30pm on Tuesday and then daily at 11am and 1.30pm. Tickets are £10.50.

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