Scheffler was born and grew up in Germany before moving to the UK to study art. In 1993, one of her songs that she sang and performed with her husband-'A Squash and Squeeze', about an elderly lady with a small house -was turned into a book, published by Methuen and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. 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. Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 21.59 x 1.02 x 26.The Gruffalo is a British children's picture book by author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan Children's Books Main Market edition (7 Sept.Now in paperback with a thick, foiled cover The Treasury of Songs: Book and CD Pack will become a firm favourite on every child's shelf. This beautifully produced songbook treasury is illustrated throughout with Axel Scheffler's warm and wonderful artwork, and comes with a CD of all the songs performed by Julia herself, which will be familiar to anyone who has heard them on TV or radio or enjoyed one of Julia's live performances.

A Treasury of Songs contains over twenty of her songs, including fun-filled action rhymes, Aesop's fables, and songs based on Julia Donaldson's best-loved picture books, including Room on the Broom, The Snail and the Whale, The Stick Man, and The Gruffalo. As well as being the UK's most successful picture book author, Julia Donaldson is a gifted songwriter for children.

The gruffalo book