Animal Ark is an ideal short musical for KS1 or 2 children. It was written as the result of a "Composer in Residence" project, where the children concerned researched the background of the given story, and then with the help of the composer, planned lyrics, dialogue and music. Their efforts were brought together by Les Emmans into the present format. The children made animal masks and suitable costumes and also constructed an ark , waves, flames etc out of cardboard boxes. A separate chorus and instrumental group provided the music while a cast acted out the story.

The government of a country, possibly in Africa, has decided to build a hydroelectric dam to provide electric power. The idea is to build an enormous concrete dam across a river valley so that the water builds up to a high level behind it. The water is then allowed to flow through giant pipes and turn the blades of turbines which in turn drive electric generators.

Unfortunately, flooding the valley means that the people and animals living there must be moved to a new home. Great care is taken to move out the people and also round up all the animals living there.

However, some animals manage to avoid being taken and are left behind when the valley is flooded. As the waters begin to rise they realise that they are trapped and must find a way to escape. They decide to build a raft which they call "Animal Ark" after a story they heard humans tell about a man called Noah who built an "ark" to save people and animals from a great flood. They face various problems, including sabotage by Hyena, but eventually sail away in their ark and arrive safely on dry land.