Julia Donaldson © Alex Rumsford

Combined tickets for the performance and for Blair Drummond Safari Park for the day are available at £22 for adults and £20 for concessions and children. Safari Park Members will pay £9 per ticket and £8.50 for children, in aid of Artlink Central.

Illustration from The Ugly Five © Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Join Julia Donaldson and friends (including the Gruffalo!) in Blair Drummond Safari Park in Stirling, for an hour of entertainment and a day surrounded by stunning wild .

Julia will be acting out her stories and singing her songs, and the show will include a World Premiere preview of her new book with Axel, “The Ugly Five” which was inspired by a safari in South Africa where she saw the ‘big five’ animals – lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffalos. However, she was more interested in 'the ugly five’ -  the wildebeest, warthog, hyena, lappet-faced vulture and marabou stork - and wrote a story about these animals ‘reclaiming’ their uniqueness. 

“Who's that singing on the savannah? It's the top-five ugly animals in Africa! The wildebeest, warthog, vulture, hyena and marabou stork swagger proudly across the savannah, rejoicing in their ugliness - and delighting their babies, who think they're perfect just the way they are.

 Inspired by the real-life Ugly Five safari animals, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's brand-new picture book is a jubilant celebration of animals who are often rather unloved.”

After the shows there will be book sales and signings.