Julia Donaldson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Julia Donaldson CBE
Donaldson at the 2011 Children´s and Young Adult Program of the Berlin International Literature Festival
Born	Julia Catherine Shields (1948-09-16) 16 September 1948 (age 76) Hampstead, London, England
Occupation	Writer, playwright
Alma mater	University of Bristol
Period	1993–present
Genre	Children's fiction, drama, and songs (retail and schools markets)
Notable works	The Gruffalo Room on the Broom Stick Man
Spouse	Malcolm Donaldson ​ ​ (m. 1972; died 2024)​
Children	3
Relatives	Lola Young (great-niece)

Julia Catherine Donaldson is a famous English writer and playwright. She was born on September 16, 1948. From 2011 to 2013, she was the Children's Laureate, a special role for a children's author.

Julia Donaldson is best known for her fun rhyming stories for kids. Many of her books are illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Some of her most popular books include The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, and Stick Man.

She started her career writing songs for children's TV shows. In 1993, the words from one of her songs, "A Squash and a Squeeze", were turned into a children's book. This inspired her to focus on writing books.

Julia Donaldson has published many works. Most of her books are available in shops. She also writes books for schools, including her "Songbirds" reading scheme. In January 2025, she became Britain's best-selling author. She sold more books than J.K. Rowling!

Julia Donaldson's Early Life and Career

Growing Up in London

Julia Donaldson grew up in Hampstead, London, with her younger sister Mary. Their family lived in a big Victorian house. Her parents, sister, and their cat lived on the ground floor. Her aunt, uncle, and grandmother lived on other floors. It was a busy house!

Julia's parents, Jerry and Elizabeth, met before Second World War. Her father, Jerry, was a prisoner of war. He used his German language skills to help as an interpreter. Her mother, Elizabeth, also spoke German and worked in the WRNS during the war.

After the war, they got married. Julia's father got polio when she was six. He used a wheelchair but stayed very active. He worked at a hospital, studying genetics. Julia's mother worked part-time and helped translate German songs.

Music was a big part of their home. Her mother sang in a choir, and her father played the cello. They loved going to music clubs. During summer holidays, Julia and Mary would put on musical shows with other children.

Poetry was also important. Julia's father gave her a book of poems when she was five. Her grandmother taught her funny rhymes by Edward Lear. Julia went to New End Primary School and then Camden School for Girls. As a child, she loved acting and singing. She even learned to play the piano. She also learned French, German, and Italian.

University Days

Julia studied Drama and French at University of Bristol from 1967 to 1970. She acted in plays and learned to play the guitar. In 1969, she met Malcolm Donaldson, a medical student who also played guitar. They started singing together in pubs.

Julia and a friend went to Paris for six months as part of their studies. They sang and played guitar for money in cafes. Malcolm joined them later, and the three of them performed songs by the Beatles. They even tried out for a French show!

Julia and Malcolm became a couple by the end of 1969. They performed at university events. In 1970, they traveled across America, singing in cities like Seattle and San Francisco. When they returned, they performed in restaurants and at different events. Julia often wrote special songs for these shows.

Starting a Family and Writing for TV

Julia and Malcolm continued to sing in Europe during holidays. Julia wrote songs in French and Italian. In 1971, Julia worked as a secretary at a publishing company in London. On weekends, she and Malcolm joined the Bristol Street Theatre. This group performed simple plays in playgrounds and invited children to join in. This experience helped Julia later when she performed her own stories for children.

Julia and Malcolm got married in September 1972. Julia wrote a mini-opera for their wedding reception! She then worked at Radio Bristol, where she produced short stories. In 1974, they moved to Brighton.

From 1974 to 1978, Julia wrote songs for BBC Children's Television shows like Play Away and Play School. Famous actors and musicians performed her songs. Some of her songs, like "A Squash and a Squeeze," were even recorded for BBC albums.

Julia and Malcolm also performed comedy songs at folk clubs in Brighton. They released an album called First Fourteen in 1977. Julia also wrote two musicals for children, King Grunt's Cake (1976) and Pirate on the Pier (1980). She performed these with a small cast.

In 1978, their first son, Hamish, was born. Julia stopped working full-time. They moved to Lyon, France, for a year, then returned to Brighton. Their second son, Alastair, was born in 1981.

New Ideas and The Gruffalo

In 1983, the family moved to Bristol. Julia volunteered at Hamish's primary school, helping children read. She wrote short plays for reading groups, which helped children gain confidence. She kept these plays for future use.

In 1989, the family moved to Glasgow. Their third son, Jerry, was born in 1987. Julia started writing songs for BBC children's shows again.

A big moment came in 1991. A publisher asked if her song "A Squash and a Squeeze" could be a picture book. The book came out in 1993, with pictures by Axel Scheffler. This made Julia realize she could turn her songs into stories. She then sent her school plays to an educational publisher. She wrote many plays and retold traditional tales for schools. She also started visiting schools and libraries in Scotland, sometimes with Malcolm and his guitar.

Julia loved encouraging children to act and sing with her. After The Gruffalo was published, she started performing at book festivals. She has been at the Edinburgh International Book Festival every year since 1999.

How The Gruffalo Was Created

In 1995, Julia found an old Chinese story. It was about a small girl who scares a tiger by pretending to be a scary queen. The tiger thinks other animals are scared of her, not him. Julia thought this could be a great picture book.

She changed the girl to a mouse and the tiger to a fox, owl, and snake. But she didn't like the rhymes. Then she thought of a monster whose name ended in "O." "Gr" sounded fierce, and "uffal" made it "Gruffalo." It sounded like a buffalo but much scarier!

The Gruffalo was hard to write. Her son Alastair encouraged her to keep going. She decided the Gruffalo should be a made-up monster that suddenly becomes real. Her youngest son, Jerry, asked a good question: "Why don't the fox, owl, and snake just eat the mouse?" Julia fixed this by adding lines where the mouse says the Gruffalo's favorite food is "roasted fox" or "scrambled snake."

The Gruffalo was sent to a publisher in 1995. Julia sent the text to Axel Scheffler, who had illustrated "A Squash and a Squeeze." Macmillan Children's Books quickly offered to publish it. The Gruffalo was published in 1999.

After The Gruffalo

The Gruffalo was a huge hit! It won many awards, including the Smarties Prize in 1999. It has been translated into over 50 languages and sold more than 10 million copies. It has also been made into stage shows and films.

Julia and Axel Scheffler continued to create many more popular books together. These include Monkey Puzzle (2000), Room on the Broom (2001), The Smartest Giant in Town (2002), The Snail and the Whale (2003), The Gruffalo's Child (2004), and Charlie Cook's Favourite Book (2005). They also created Stick Man (2008), Zog (2010), and The Smeds and the Smoos (2019).

Julia has also worked with other illustrators like Lydia Monks and David Roberts. Lydia Monks illustrated the Princess Mirror-Belle books. These are about a boastful girl who is a mirror reflection of an ordinary girl named Ellen. The idea for Mirror-Belle came from Hamish's imaginary childhood friend.

Julia also wrote The Giants and the Joneses for older children. Her book Running on the Cracks is for teenagers. It's about a half-Chinese girl named Leo who runs away from her uncle. She tries to find her father's family in Glasgow. This book won an award in 2011.

Julia has also written a reading program called Songbird Phonics for Oxford University Press.

When Julia performs for the public, she often acts out stories and sings songs. She loves to get the audience involved, inviting children (and sometimes parents) on stage. Malcolm Donaldson almost always joins her. Other family members often perform too.

Julia has performed her books in English and German. In 2007, she and Malcolm went on a World Tour, performing in many countries.

Children's Laureate Role

In 2011, Julia Donaldson became the Children's Laureate. This special role encourages children to love books and reading. Julia wanted to inspire children to perform poetry and plays.

She created a series of Plays to Read for classrooms. She also put together an anthology called Poems to Perform. She made a website, picturebookplays.co.uk, to help turn picture books into classroom plays.

As Laureate, Julia strongly supported libraries. She wrote articles and met with government officials. In 2012, she and Malcolm toured 38 UK libraries. Children at each library performed a short play or song. The tour celebrated libraries as important places.

Julia Donaldson's Personal Life

Julia Donaldson has a type of hearing loss that makes it hard to hear some speech and music. Lip reading helps her.

Malcolm Donaldson, Julia's husband, was a children's doctor. They lived in Bearsden, Scotland, and then moved to Steyning, England, in 2014. They had three sons: Hamish, Alastair, and Jerry. Their eldest son, Hamish, passed away in 2003 at age 25. Julia has said he inspired some of her imaginative writing.

Alastair is a professor at Imperial College London. He and his wife, Chris, with their children, Poppy and Felix, sometimes join Julia at her performances. Malcolm passed away from cancer on September 22, 2024, at the age of 75.

Julia's great-niece is the British singer Lola Young.

Helping Others: Charity Work

Julia Donaldson supports several charities. She is a patron of ArtLink Central, which helps artists work in communities that need support. She also supports Bookbug, a program in Scotland that gives books to young children. This encourages parents to read with their kids from birth.

She is also a patron of Storybook Dads. This charity helps prisoners record bedtime stories for their children. This helps families stay connected. Julia also supports Monmouth's Savoy Cinema.

Awards and Recognition

Julia Donaldson has received many honors for her work. She was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2011. In 2019, she was promoted to Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). She also became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018.

She has received honorary doctorates from the University of Bristol (2011) and the University of Glasgow (2012).

Here are some of the awards her books have won:

• 1999 Nestle Smarties Book Prize (Gold Award): The Gruffalo
• 2000 Blue Peter Best Book to Read Aloud: The Gruffalo
• 2002 Sheffield Book Award: Room on the Broom
• 2003 Red House Children's Book Award: The Smartest Giant in Town
• 2004 Book Trust Early Years Award: The Snail and the Whale
• 2005 British Book Awards: The Gruffalo's Child
• 2009 NASEN Book Awards: Running on the Cracks
• 2010 Galaxy Book Award: Zog
• 2011 Scottish Children's Book Awards: What the Ladybird Heard
• 2012 Stockport Book Awards: Jack and the Flumflum Tree

Julia Donaldson's Books

See also

In Spanish: Julia Donaldson para niños