Of course we wanted to maintain the integrity of the original books, but the possibilities that animation offered, the creation of a world with movement, voices, music and sound effects, inspired us to take things further.

Would these puzzles and cards etc. alongside the series have been something you would have enjoyed as a child? Introduce the musical instruments and encourage children to use these to represent sounds in the story, for example, shaking maracas as the space ship sets off and banging the drum as it lands. Anyone who doesn't have a child addicted to CBeebies (the 'early years' BBC channel) may not have heard of Q Pootle 5. I've become rather fond of him. He's an affable little green alien who lives on the planet Okiedokie, and potters around having gentle adventures with his alien buddies. Offer tools and materials for the children to make their own instruments, for example, metal and card drums, cardboard tubes, plastic and cardboard boxes, tape, rubber bands, string. Model and demonstrate skills and ideas.Some people create characters and shows purely to entertain, whereas others want to teach children something. Did you have specific aims when making Q Pootle 5 as a TV series? How? Why? When? Who? What? Reinforce key words in the story (such as moon, spaceship) and items in the bag.

Q Pootle 5 is a friendly and fun-loving person who has a real sense of adventure. He’s very kind and loves spending time with his friends. He’s good at solving problems – but he’s not infallible – sometimes it can be a problem of his own making! Q Pootle 5, known as "Pootle" to his friends, is a friendly green alien and the lead character in the show. He enjoys stargazing on top of the camper van where he lives and spending time with his friends.

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Children will enjoy joining in with the sound effects at the beginning of the book and some of the things the characters say. Tell the story We wanted to give kids a good time, we did that in knowledge that what we were intending to bring were positive values. I think you always bring your own values to writing, so I brought mine and also the values of my son, Ben – without him the Q Pootle 5 series would not be out there! I also looked for other writers who shared those values so they became embedded in the series. They are not made to teach as such, but still bring things which children can learn, like how to react kindly, be unselfish and have warm friendships. advocates that settings should be organised and resourced using a 'workshop' approach so children can access resources autonomously and independently. Walker Books will launch two TV tie-in books (Great Space Race and Groobie’s Space Wash) on 6 November. What we should expect?