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You are here: Authors > Julia Donaldson
About Julia Donaldson
It’s impossible to imagine a time before every child’s bookcase contained a sticky-finger-marked, lovingly well-read copy of The Gruffalo, so great has been the impact of former Children’s Laureate, author, poet and song-writer Julia Donaldson. Her extraordinary imagination has produced classics such as Stick Man and Room on the Broom amongst many others, making her undoubtedly the most popular author for very young children writing today.
Picture Books, in Order of Publication
The Gruffalo
Zog
What The Ladybird Heard
Stickman
The Snail on the Whale
Room on the Broom
Princess Mirror-Belle
CD Audiobooks
Julia Donaldson
It takes a very special sort of creative talent to come up with books as widely-appealing memorable and enduring as Julia Donaldson’s. The melodic quality of her verse (that adults and children alike know by heart) might stem from her early work as a song-writer, having spent many years writing songs for children’s programmes such as Playdays where she says she ‘became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells.’
It was whilst working for the BBC that she decided to develop one of her stories, A Squash and a Squeeze, into a book, beginning her career-long collaborative partnership with German illustrator Axel Scheffler.
I’m Going to Have Tea With…
An instant bestseller, hailed as ‘a modern classic’ by The Observer upon publication, the story of The Gruffalo originated from Donaldson’s encounter with an old Chinese fairy tale which gave her the idea for an imaginary terrifying monster, dreamed up to scare but turning out to be real.
The book and its sequel The Gruffalo's Child, have gone on to become some of the most read children’s books in the world, translated into more than 40 languages, spawning television adaptations, outdoor adventure courses, toys and games.
Snails, Whales, Witches and a Wedding
Since writing The Gruffalo, Donaldson simply hasn’t stopped, publishing one bestseller after another in quick succession. Her most popular books, many of them introducing children to ideas through animal stories, have been working with Scheffler with whom she has created (amongst others) Monkey Puzzle, Stick Man (inspired by The Gruffalo’s Child’s toy) and The Scarecrow's Wedding as well as the ever-popular Room on the Broom.
Alongside her work with Scheffler, Donaldson has collaborated with other popular illustrators on projects including Sharing a Shell and What the Ladybird Heard with Lydia Monks and Tyrannosaurus Drip with David Roberts.
Donaldson doesn’t just write for very young children, her projects for older readers have often been inspired by her own children, including the popular Princess Mirror-Belle series (based on her son’s imaginary friend who lived behind the wardrobe door) and her first book for teenagers Running on the Cracks.
Laureateship and Beyond
Awarded the position of Children’s Laureate in 2011 Donaldson has been a tireless promoter of children’s literacy and public libraries and has taken The Gruffalo and other stories on tour but it is for her picture books she will be remembered, she says ‘the best thing about picture books is that they can be anything you like… they can be a joke, or help you come to terms with the death of a grandparent… there's no blueprint.’
Selected Bibliography
Picture Books with Axel Scheffler
A Squash and a Squeeze (1993)
The Gruffalo (1999)
Monkey Puzzle (2000)
Room on the Broom (2002)
The Smartest Giant in Town (2002)
The Snail and the Whale (2003)
The Gruffalo's Child (2004)
Charlie Cook's Favourite Book (2005)
Tiddler (2007)
Stick Man (2008)
Tabby McTat (2009)
Zog (2010)
The Highway Rat (2011)
Superworm (2012)
The Scarecrow's Wedding (2014)
Tales from Acorn Wood
Hide and Seek Pig (2003)
Postman Bear (2003)
Fox's Socks (2003)
Rabbit's Nap (2003)
With Nick Sharratt
Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose (2005)
Wriggle and Roar (2005)
Hippo Has a Hat (2006)
One Mole Digging a Hole (2008)
Toddle Waddle (2009)
Goat Goes to Playgroup (2012)
With Lydia Monks
Sharing a Shell (2005)
The Princess and the Wizard (2006)
What the Ladybird Heard (2009)
The Rhyming Rabbit (2011)
The Singing Mermaid (2012)
Sugarlump and the Unicorn (2013)
With David Roberts
Tyrannosaurus Drip (2007)
The Troll (2009)
Jack and the Flumflum Tree (2011)
The Flying Bath (2014)
Princess Mirror-Belle Series
Princess Mirror-Belle (2005)
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Magic Shoes (2005)
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Flying Horse (2005)
Princess Mirror-Belle and Prince Precious Paws (2015)
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Sea Monster’s Cave (2015)
Princess Mirror-Belle and the Party Hoppers (2015)
Other Novels, Plays, Poetry and Songs
Night Monkey, Day Monkey (2002) – with Lucy Richards
The Dinosaur's Diary (2003) – with Debbie Boon
One Ted Falls Out of Bed (2004) – with Anna Currey
The Giants and the Joneses (2004) – with Paul Hess
The Magic Paintbrush (2004) – with Joel Stewart
The Wrong Kind of Bark (2004) – with Garry Parsons
Brick-a-Breck (2004)
Bombs and Blackberries (2004)
The Quick Brown Fox Cub (2005)
The Gruffalo Song and Other Songs (2005)
Crazy Mayonnaisy Mum (2005) – with Nick Sharratt
Room on the Broom and Other Songs (2006)
Rosie's Hat (2006) – with Anna Currey
Play Time! A Selection of Plays (2006)
Follow the Swallow (2007) – with Pam Smy
Running on the Cracks (2009), Donaldson's first novel for teenagers
Cave Baby (2010) – with Emily Gravett
Freddie and the Fairy (2011) – with Karen George
The Gruffalo's Child and Other Songs (2011)
The Paper Dolls (2012) – with Rebecca Cobb
The Snake Who Came to Stay (2012) – with Hannah Shaw
Mr Birdsnest and the House Next Door (2012) – with Hannah Shaw
The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussy-cat (2013) – with Charlotte Voake
The Detective Dog (2016) – with Sara Ogilvie
Spinderella (2016) – with Sebastian Braun