When Judy Horacek drew a little green sheep and posted it to her website, she never could have imagined what would come of it. The drawing caught the eye of acclaimed children’s author Mem Fox; fast-forward 20-odd years, their picture book collaboration Where Is the Green Sheep? has since been published in 11 countries, sold more than 2.5m copies, and, just last month, was voted the third-best Australian picture book of all time by thousands of Guardian readers.
Among other things, the picture book has spawned plush toys, a set of postage stamps, a commemorative 20¢ coin – and now a stage show. Horacek has joined forces with Monkey Baa theatre company, one of Australia’s leading professional theatre companies for young audiences, to bring a stage adaptation of the Green Sheep to 80 venues across Australia throughout 2026 and 2027.
The play blends puppetry and animation and was co-created with students from Bankstown West public school, whose voices narrate the story. Adapting the book was “an incredible experience,” says Horacek, who is the show’s visual art director. “We’ve created a play that is very true to the book, but at the same time full of wonderful new surprises.”
Why is Green Sheep so enormously and enduringly popular? Has the earworm text brainwashed readers into lifelong loyalty? Or is it because those most likely to be reading it aloud are tired carers of very small children, living vicariously through the title character who is – spoiler alert – found, in the end, fast asleep.
Horacek attributes the book’s staying power to “its humour, its incredible charm, the fact that there are things in the pictures for grownups to appreciate, too, and the rituals families create around the reading of it – naming all the sheep on the final hillside, for example”.
The text has a total of 190 words, only two of which exceed one syllable (“asleep” and “quietly”). This, and the text’s repetitive pattern, makes it gratifyingly accessible for early readers. Despite so few words, there’s a plot (the quest to find the missing sheep), and the book teaches kids about colours, opposites and rhyme, among other things. Most readers will end up with a favourite sheep: a choice that, at least in my experience, can be somewhat of a crystal ball glimpse into their future. My niece used to shiver in solidarity with the “scared sheep” beside the pool, and is now a swimming teacher; her brother’s favourite was the car sheep; he’s about to start a mechanic apprenticeship.
Horacek’s illustrations are joyous, adding life to the words and transforming each monosyllabic sheep into something active and engaging. On stage, three actors play the role of farmers on the hunt for the elusive green sheep. The trio manoeuvre a fluffy white sheep puppet through various activities – bathing, singing and dancing in the rain, flying off into space, and more – against the backdrop of a screen showing Horacek’s art.
If another poll took place to determine Australia’s favourite sheep, there’s a good chance the bed sheep – AKA the book sheep – would reign supreme, an apt poster child for 2026, or “the analogue year”. Fittingly, the desire to offer families an analogue experience, real-life moments that help young people feel present and connected, is part of what drives Monkey Baa theatre company.
Horacek is thrilled that Where Is the Green Sheep? continues to find new fans, and the stage show will only add more. “It’s old enough that people who had it when they were tiny children, are starting to have children,” she says. “It’s beautiful to see them sharing a book that meant a lot to them.”
Where Is the Green Sheep? is touring Australia now; see here for all 2026 dates and locations. More dates for 2027, including Adelaide, Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales, will be announced in the future.
