The Gruffalo

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Five years after the publication of The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child was introduced to the world, starring in her very own adventure – and proved an instant hit. It was voted The Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book of the Year Awards in 2005. A special book and CD edition of the bestselling The Snail and the Whale, a delightful tale of adventure and friendship by the unp... Read more

What the Ladybird Heard, bestselling picture book from Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks, has been adapted by author Julia Donaldson into a fun and accessible play script that children will... Read more Where is Monkey's mummy? It's not too much fun being lost in the jungle, and little monkey wants his mum. Kindly butterfly is keen to help, but they don't seem to ... Read more The Paper Dolls is a stunning, lyrical story of childhood, memory and the power of imagination from Julia Donaldson, the author of The Gruffalo, and award-winning illustrator Rebec... Read more Imagine Ellen's surprise when Princess Mirror-Belle climbs out of the bathroom mirror! She comes from a world where bubble fish swim in the bath, elves sleep in slippers, and brave knights fight fi... Read more The Taiwanese translator of The Gruffalo recommended the book for publication in Taiwanese because he noticed the story bore resemblance to the traditional tale. Teachers have used this translated book to demonstrate a modern retelling of the Chinese folk tale. In an article on the traditional Chinese translation of The Gruffalo in Taiwan, Chen-Wei Yu writes that the "resourcefulness" of the mouse in Donaldson's story represents a Western association with "individual autonomy" and "self-achievement", whereas the fox in the original fable is to be looked down upon because it does not accept its correct place in society nor an individual's obligation to others. [23] This latter interpretation of the story has led the phrase "The Fox that Borrows the Terror of a Tiger" to mean someone who makes use of another person's power for their own gain. [23] Writing style [ edit ]

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Push, pull and slide the moving mechanisms to meet all your favourite characters from the deep dark wood in this brilliant board book based on the bestselling classic picture book, The Gruffalo ... Read more This fantastic magical adventure is perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime – or any time at all!

The Gruffalo, too, has won many awards, including the Nestlé Smarties Prize and the Blue Peter Award for The Best Book to Read Aloud – and in 2009 was voted the UK’s favourite bedtime story. But Gruffalo fans are everywhere: the story has been translated into over 100 languages, including Thai, Russian, Scots and Maori . . . and for Classics scholars, there is even a Latin edition. A brilliant story of friendship and fun, perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime – or any time at all! Celebrate the joy of books with the entertaining Charlie Cook's Favourite Book, from the unparalleled picture book partnership of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gr... Read moreDonaldson has said that the story of The Gruffalo was inspired by a Chinese folk tale known as "The Fox that Borrows the Terror of a Tiger" [22] [23] (狐假虎威 [24]).The folk tale is about a hungry tiger who tries to catch a fox. The fox is clever and tells the tiger that God has made the fox king of all animals. Whilst accompanying the fox, the tiger notices that other animals run away in fear. Not realising that they are actually running away from the tiger, the tiger believes that fox is indeed a feared king. [23] Donaldson was originally going to have the beast in her book be a tiger, but was unable to think of rhymes for "tiger" so instead invented a new word—"gruffalo". [23] With a whole host of noisy zoo-animal characters to meet What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday is a fantastic rhyming adventure from stellar picture book partnership of Julia Donaldson and L... Read more A fantastic rhyming animal story, perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime – or any time at all! It's a Little Baby is a beautiful and engaging lift-the-flap book for little ones from Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb, the creators of the bestselling The Paper Dolls and The ... Read more

Donaldson is a patron of ArtLink Central, of Bookbug; a programme run by the Scottish Book Trust funded by the Scottish Government, which gifts more than 500,000 books to children aged 0–5 in Scotland annually which encourages parents to introduce book & stories to their children. Furthermore, Julia is a patron of Storybook Dads, a UK charity where prisoners send recordings of themselves reading bedtime stories to their children to maintain connections with the kids with imprisoned parents. Join Julia Donaldson and some of her best-loved illustrator friends in this wonderful collection of stories. These 18 stories are read for the first time by Julia Donaldson herself and are perfe... Read more With a cast of wonderful sea creatures, including a magical mermaid, and plenty of seaside fun, What the Ladybird Heard at the Seaside is a brilliant rhyming adventure from the bestsellin... Read more The Snail and the Whale is a delightful tale of adventure and friendship from the bestselling Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo. This special festive edi... Read moreFrom Julia Donaldson, the bestselling author of The Gruffalo, comes Princess Mirror-Belle and Prince Precious Paws, the exciting adventures of a princess with a difference. Read more In Shuffle and Squelch there are counting rhymes and animal rhymes, rhymes to make you shuffle and sque... Read more Julia Donaldson is an acclaimed author, playwright & performer whose catalogue features more 180 published works. She published her first book in 1993, & is well known for her collaborations with illustrator Axel Scheffler. In 1999, her most famous tale, The Gruffalo was released, resulting in massive success & establishing her as one of the UK’s most popular & renown children’s writers. Early Life & Education