She began her career as a writer by writing children's songs for television programmes. She studied drama at the University of Bristol and then busked in Europe and the United States. Before writing The Gruffalo, Donaldson had a background in drama and performance. Julia Donaldson is an author of children's books, the most famous of which being The Gruffalo. In 2004, The Gruffalo was followed by a sequel- The Gruffalo's Child-also written by Donaldson and illustrated by Scheffler.Ĭontext Author and illustrator The book has inspired a range of merchandise, a commemorative coin, a theme park ride in Chessington World of Adventures, and a series of woodland trails. It has been adapted into plays and an Oscar-nominated animated film.

The Gruffalo has sold over 13.5 million copies and has won several prizes for children's literature including the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. It is an example of a trickster story and was inspired by a Chinese folk tale called 'The Fox that Borrows the Terror of a Tiger'. It is about 700 words long and is written in rhyming couplets featuring repetitive verse. The Gruffalo was first published in 1999 in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Children's Books. It tells the story of a mouse taking a walk in the woods and deceiving different predators, including the Gruffalo. The Gruffalo is a British children's picture book by author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson