The term ‘Ugly 5’ refers to a group of the five ‘ugliest’ animals in Africa that you can spot on a safari. It’s a rather brutal classification, and in reality, all animals are beautiful in their own way. 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. Yet for better or worse, these five have earned themselves an unfortunate place in the official Ugly Five listing. I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.

So why didn’t I like it as much as her other books? I think there wasn’t enough plot to keep the story moving along. I read it to six groups of key stage 1 children, and the Year 2s were definitely a bit twitchy. The rhyme is incredibly clever, but there is a lot of it and so for a picture book it is quite wordy. Also, there was no dramatic tension. In The Gruffalo, we are worried that the mouse will be eaten, in Room in the Broom, the witch needs to be rescued and in Tiddler, the protagonist needs to get home. But in The Ugly Five, there are five animals out for a walk and then they meet their children. Tell a hyena that it’s ugly and it will probably ‘laugh’ in your face. In all honesty, they’re not terribly unattractive. Think of some speech / thought bubbles to add to the illustrations. What are the animals saying / thinking? The Ugly Five are an odd-looking bunch with a bad reputation. Yet each of them has their own unique and fascinating story. Some are vital to their ecosystems, while others dazzle us with spectacular wild shows.The book is about the animals known on safari as the Ugly Five - the cosmetically challenged companions of the more famous Big Five (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, buffalo and elephant). They are the wildebeest, warthog, spotted hyena, lappet-faced vulture and Marabou stork. Open grasslands are their preferred habitat, with their seasonal migration being an optimised survival strategy ensuring their access to fresh resources over wide ranges of areas. These animals are normally found in groups and they spend most of their time in search of food. Warthogs are members of the pig family and are widely distributed across Africa. These animals sleep underground in burrows which they steal from other animals such as the aardvark. When running through grass their tails stand up straight, and when in danger these animals choose to run, rather than fight.

But still, they feel a bit low about their looks and start to proclaim it to the winds. But then another "ugly" animal joins in the singing and well, joins the club. Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta. Some sources single out the lappet-faced vulture as the vulture’s representative in the Ugly 5. Although most of Africa’s 11 vulture species could make the cut – none are blessed with particularly good looks. Located In the south of Tanzania, Nyerere National Park is a vast, wild reserve – larger than Switzerland – with just a scattering of small camps.However, much like the marabou storks, vultures have a crucial role to play in nature. They’re respected members of Africa’s ‘ clean-up crew’ for their ability to keep our wildlife reserves tidy. The ugly five is a repetitive and rhyming book which could encourage children to join in with the story. Therefore, I think it would be suitable for reception, year one and year two class. If you’ve been on safari you’ll probably be aware of ‘the big five’ of buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, and rhino. You may also be aware of the little five, or small five animals– rhinoceros beetle, buffalo weaver, elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, and the antlion. They’re perhaps the most infamous scavengers of all, and they’re very good at what they do. In fact, they clear up to 70% of the carrion in Africa, helping prevent the spread of disease in animals and humans. 3. Wildebeest

The book asks a variety of questions which also encourage children to join in and the book introduced me to animals I had not heard of before like the Marabou Stork.When asked to vote thumbs up or thumbs down, Dragonflies class (Year 2) polled a mixture of thumbs up, thumbs down and thumbs in the middle. Dominic thought it was boring, but liked the pictures of the funny animals. Brandon thought it was too long and wasn’t funny. Maia liked “seeing animals I’ve never seen before”.