The popularity of Terry Pratchett's stories cannot never be underestimated, with their flights of imagination. While there have been some impressive adaptations of some of his books in recent years, the real magic of them comes from reading (or listening - with many an hour stuck in motorway traffic soothed by audiobooks) with his clever word plays that are his hallmark, often being lost in translation to the visual medium. Usually enjoyed by an older audience (not necessarily a grown-up one), Pratchett also wrote stories for children, filled with the same imagination as his Discworld volumes, with Truckers being one of them.

While we tend to think that children's tastes have become more sophisticated as they are immersed in 3D CGI animation, whether it is in cinemas or on handheld game devices, they are still enthralled by stop-motion animation like Ray Harryhausen's.

Back in the early 1990s, famed British animation studio Cosgrove Hall (Dangermouse) brought Truckers, Pratchett's tale of nomes, to life in 13 10-minute episodes. The nomes (as opposed to the European gnomes) were in a steep decline in the English countryside due to expansion of motorways, and the perils of the predatory wildlife around. These four-inch Borrower-like creatures needed to escape from the country, and under the leadership of the heroic young Masklin, they jumped onboard a truck and ended up at Arnold Bros department store, where they were surprised to meet hundreds of other nomes that had settled in the building, creating their own little hierarchical empires in the various departments, without any knowledge of an outside world. However, when the store is forced to close down it is up to Masklin to lead the exodus to safety.

This is perfect fare for young'uns, and for adults of a certain age trying to recapture a more innocent time. Then once you have the little ones hooked on Pratchett you can lead them on to the harder stuff - books.

Truckers is out now on DVD.