Here are some facts about Julia Donaldson, the children’s author.
- Julia Donaldson was born on 16th September 1948, in Hampstead, London, England.
- She was brought up in a three-storey Victorian house near Hampstead Heath.
- As a child, Julia Donaldson loved poetry. She read The Book of a Thousand Poems and the nonsense poems by Edward Lear.
- She was good at learning languages at school, and she has a good understanding of French, German and Italian.
- Julia Donaldson went to Bristol University, studying French and Drama.
- She was an editor for a small book publishers, Robert Tyndall.
- She wrote songs for the children’s TV shows, Play Away, Play School and Play Board.
- In the 1970s, Julia Donaldson trained as a teacher, and she taught English at St Mary’s Hall in Brighton.
- In 1993, one of her songs, Squash and a Squeeze, was made into a picture book.
- The Gruffalo, Donaldson’s most famous book, was published in 1999. It has sold more than 10 million copies.
- Her other books inlcude: Monkey Puzzle, Room on the Broom, The Smartest Giant in Town, The Snail and the Whale, The Gruffalo’s Child and Superworm.
- In 2011 Julia Donaldson received an MBE.
- She likes drinking tea, playing piano and playing backgammon.
- She enjoyed reading Watership Down by Richard Adams.
- Julia Donaldson has a black cat called Goblin.
- The Gruffalo was turned into a short animated film. It featured the voices of Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Robbie Coltrane, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson and James Corden. The sequel to The Gruffalo, the The Gruffalo’s Child was also filmed.
What next? Discover more facts about other famous children’s authors.
