What The Ladbybird Heard attracted a good turnout at the Grand Opera House undoubtedly due to the popularity of the children’s book by Julia Donaldson on which it is based.

I watched the adaptation, by director Graham Hubbard, with my four-year-old and his friend, aged three, who was on his first theatre visit. If their reaction was a gauge of the show's success, then it was “fabulous”.

They liked the set which was like walking into a page from the book thanks to a collaboration with illustrator Lydia Monks. They clapped in the right places, shouted out animal noises when required and joined in with the songs.

The show’s appeal was also boosted by its brevity – 55 minutes, barely time for youngsters to get bored, while the language was suitably simple with easy-listening, repetitive songs and an uncomplicated plot.

The farm adventure itself is only short, so the writers have created a half-hour preamble, taking the actors out of character to play stage managers, trying to resolve the problem of having no real animals.

They chose “volunteers” from the audience to play the two robbers who want to steal a cow, but disappointingly their search for helpers was out of view from most of the dress circle. Then the cast imaginatively create animals out of farmyard props which worked well.

After all this padding, the actors explained the plot causing some restlessness in the audience before capturing our attention again with the actual story which I was pleased to see stayed true to Donaldson’s words.

The talented cast all played instruments on stage to bring a live element to the backing track. The final foot-tapping song was more upbeat than any others, and, in my view, may have given the show a bigger lift if played earlier.