Author of the Term
The author we are celebrating this term is...
Julia Donaldson
Julia Donaldson, CBE
Julia Donaldson was born on 16th September 1948 in London, England. Her first home was a three-storey Victorian house in Hampstead Heath where she lived on the ground floor with her parents and sister Mary and cat Geoffrey. Her Granny lived on the top floor and her aunt and uncle on the middle floor.
As a child Julia loved poetry particularly nonsense poems by Edward Lear. At school she was good and learning languages and understands French, German, and Italian. She also loved to write stories, the first one she remembers was about a rabbit with orange ears which looked like carrots.
Julia went to University in Bristol studying French and Drama. It was here that she met her husband Malcolm who was a medical student who played the guitar. She and Malcolm have now been married for over 50 years and have 3 sons.
One of her first jobs was as an editor for a small publishers called Robert Tyndall. Julia has also worked at a local radio station and has taught English to Secondary School children. Julia Donaldson also wrote songs for Children’s TV shows called “Play Away,” “Play School” and “Play Board”.
1993 one of her songs for television, “A Squash and a Squeeze”, was made into a book with illustrations by Axel Scheffler. Axel and Julia work separately and have now worked together for over 20 books.
The book that made her more well-known was “The Gruffalo”.
2019 she was awarded a CBE for services to literature by Queen Elizabeth II.
