Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler are superstars in the world of children's literacy.

Donaldson's fanciful, perfectly rhyming tales, paired with Scheffler's unmistakable illustrations make them a formidable force.

The Gruffalo is one of the most successful book franchises in history, and they're returning to that familiar world with their newest creation: 'Gruffalo Granny'.

It comes 27 years after the first book was published and 22 years after its sequel, 'The Gruffalo's Child', hit the shelves.

Over twenty years is a fairly large gap, but Donaldson told Jack Tame she's hardly been twiddling her thumbs in the meantime.

"I've written dozens of books in between," she said.

"And it's quite hard to write a sequel ... you're not so free."

The return to the deep dark wood also came as a surprise to Scheffler, who had no idea the book was in the works.

"At least the Gruffalo and the Gruffalo's child knew that Granny was coming – I didn't know," he told Tame.

"When I'm writing a story, I don't, if I tell someone I'm going to write a story about this, that and the other, and they go, "yeah, I'm not so sure", you know, then immediately I'll just clam up and I won't do it," Donaldson explained.

"Plus, I've got to be happy myself. Sometimes I think I can write a story and then it doesn't work out so I have to keep it to myself and be happy before I show it to anyone."

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One of Kevin Milne's grandsons had his birthday recently, and to celebrate, they did something slightly unusual.

Instead of a party, they instead took the now four year old on a tour around the Hutt Valley in a London Transport double-decker bus.

He joined Jack Tame to chat about the experience.

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Massive names in music are set to take the stage at Christchurch's Electric Avenue next year.

With hits like "Use Somebody" and "Sex on Fire," American rock band Kings of Leon will headline Hagley Park on Friday February 26.

Scottish DJ Calvin Harris will play the Saturday night stage with tracks like "Feel So Close" and "We Found Love".

Other big names include Kasabian, Major Lazer, Underworld and Bebe Rexha.

Chris Schulz joined Jack Tame to go through the line up.

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Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson

It’s the summer of 1951 and everyone is looking to put the dark days of the war behind them. The government’s solution: The Festival of Britain, a celebration of the country’s creativity, grit and ingenuity.

For foreign correspondent turned war reporter Harry Flynn, it might offer the chance of redemption after a bad war in the Far East and a peace that is proving no easier to negotiate. Having failed to resume his journalistic career, he reluctantly joins an oddball team of misfits, ne’er-do-wells and downright chancers helping to ready the Festival of Britain for launch.

Flynn’s attempts to resume some semblance of a romantic life also founder when one of his dates goes missing and he is deemed to be the last person to have seen her alive. Could he have been in some way responsible for her disappearance?

Little does he realize that the answer to some of his mounting problems may lie in the hands of a precocious, straight-talking thirteen-year-old called Veronica and a rather scruffy terrier who goes by the name of Mrs Betty…

The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon

Grace O’Malley was born to be a sea captain. But despite her natural skill on the water, Grace learns early that her dreams of a life at the helm are not compatible with the expectations of her noble family. As the only daughter of a powerful chieftain, her role is to secure a strong alliance and bear children. But when she’s sent to foster with a nearby clan, Grace falls for a clever and open-minded second son—a man she cannot have.

Married off against her will to a brutal warrior, Grace performs her duty, all the while gathering followers loyal to her, and consolidating her husband’s power, only to be ousted from his lands. But this betrayal offers Grace the opportunity to return to sea, finally leading clan O’Malley’s mighty fleet. Just as she finds true independence, Queen Elizabeth’s incursions into Ireland grow bolder and Grace must fight to defend her land, her ships, and the people she loves most against the cruel and power-hungry English deputies, who will stop at nothing to check her influence.

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On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday September 19 2026, children's literature superstars Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler speak to us about their newest creation, 'Gruffalo Granny'.

Jack renews his Man Card with a home chainsaw experience.

Resident Evil has hit our cinema screens, and our film reviewer Francesca Rudkin gives us her take on it.

Ed McKnight joins us to talk about financial freedom versus financial peace and how we can achieve them.

And since Electric Avenue has dropped its 2027 lineup, Chris Schulz is here to debrief.

Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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"For a Queensland holiday with a difference, why not savour a slice of the Pacific Coast Way? Spanning 1800km, from Cairns to Coolangatta, this is like the Sunshine State’s answer to Route 66. Rather than crossing a country, this iconic coastal roadie straddles the full length of one of the world’s seven natural wonders: the Great Barrier Reef. The Pacific Coast Way mostly traces the Bruce Highway, with reef-fringed beaches and islands on one side, and lush rainforest, country towns, bountiful farmland and national park on the other. Over the course of a week, I drove two-thirds of the route, starting in the tropical swagger of Cairns and finishing in Rockhampton."

Read Mike's full article here.

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Why do some people support a team through thick and thin while others are “fair-weather” fans?

On the back of the Warriors loss last week and tomorrow's do or die match, Dr Dougal Sutherland digs into the idea of "BIRGers" and "CORFers".

The foundational concept of BIRGing: Basking in Reflected Glory

You see this in such behaviours as someone being more likely to wear team colours and strips after victories, talking about the wins a lot, and using phrases such as “we won".

Psychologically, BIRGing seems to have at least two benefits for people:

1. Enhanced self-esteem – people feel more successful through identifying with a winning team.

2. Positive social identity – people feel stronger links to others in the same community. We all feel good and a sense of belonging when our team wins. In fact, research shows now that many people don’t feel like they merely support the team, they feel they are part of the wider team. It may be that COATing is a better description (Celebrating Our Accomplishment Together) than BIRG – the glory isn’t reflective, it’s ours!

The opposite process is Cutting Off Reflected Failure (CORFing), which occurs when people psychologically distance themselves from a team after losses. The purpose of CORFing is largely protective. It helps people avoid damage to self-esteem when a valued group performs poorly.

But not all fans are the same…

Committed fans, those who’ve supported the Wahs through thick and thin tend to BIRG when the team wins, keep supporting the team after losses, and don’t usually CORF.

Newer research identified a subgroup of fans who might be best described as “jumping on the bandwagon”. They still strongly identify with the team but believe the team deserves special recognition, are highly sensitive to threats or criticism, and need the team's success to validate themselves.

They also tend to BIRG more after victories and CORF more after defeats than committed fans and seem to be more likely to engage in violence or other disruptive behaviour.

This group has been labelled “collective narcissists”. Fan bases with a high proportion of collective narcissists may be less stable because support fluctuates greatly with team performance.

For sports organisations, having a winning team increases popularity and most clubs likely have committed fans and bandwagon jumpers. Building up a strong community/group feeling come rain or shine might help reduce the number of bandwagon jumpers and keep a more stable fan base.

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Over the last few days, I simply couldn’t help but visit the various botanical highlights where flowering trees attract loads of people for a walk.

Years ago, I worked in Japan on a regular basis, where the Cherry Blossoms traditionally attract millions of people having lunch under those magnificent trees.

Once you’ve seen that spectacle, you won’t forget it in a hurry!

This year is a brilliant one, especially in Christchurch (and the surrounding towns). Not just the botanic garden, where displays are always unique, but also the classic Cantabrian private gardens.

Blossoms on an apple tree in Lincoln. Photo / Supplied

It’s a busy week at the Halswell Quarry, where parking is at a premium, especially on the weekend.

For the past few decades, the development of the old quarry environment has not only focused on our native vegetation, trees and shrubs and useful Ornithological sites, but also on magnificent varieties of Cherry Blossom, grown in traditional ways.

Different Cherry varieties. Photo / Supplied

It may not come as a surprise that the Halswell Quarry has some botanical areas of international origin. The sister city connections show Kurashiki (Japan), Gansu Province (China), and Songpa-Gu from Korea. And they all have their own specific species and varieties that will attract gardeners.

What I really enjoy about this time of the year is that many new sub-divisions around the Christchurch and general Canterbury area show gardeners the value of planting these lovely trees that attract pollinators, birds, and heaps of native insects in your garden.

A wild Lincoln blossom tree. Photo / Supplied

There are some great companies that support a wide variety of Cherry Blossoms – have a look at what’s brilliant in your neck of the woods and pick what lights up your garden!

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