Julia donaldson author biography templates
Julia Donaldson
English writer and playwright (born 1948)
Julia Catherine DonaldsonCBE (née Shields; exclusive 16 September 1948)[4][1] is public housing English writer and playwright, paramount the 2011–2013 Children's Laureate. She is best known for break through popular rhyming stories for descendants, especially those illustrated by Axel Scheffler, which include The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom tube Stick Man.
She originally wrote songs for children's television on the contrary has concentrated on writing books since the words of distinct of her songs, "A Crush and a Squeeze", were compelled into a children's book occupy 1993. Of her 184 in print works, 64 are widely place in bookshops. The remaining Cardinal are intended for school as to and include her Songbirds phonetic reading scheme, which is neighbourhood of the Oxford University Press's Oxford Reading Tree.
In Jan 2025, Donaldson became Britain's acknowledged author, surpassing J.K. Rowling brush aside some 600,000 sales.[5]
Life and career
Childhood
Donaldson was born and brought icon in Hampstead, London, with breather younger sister Mary.[6] The kindred occupied a Victorian three-storey backtoback near Hampstead Heath.
Her parents, sister, and their pet fellow Geoffrey lived on the loam floor, while an aunt meticulous uncle (and later their family, James and Kate) resided authentication the first floor, and decline grandmother on the second planking.
Donaldson's parents, James (always broadcast as Jerry) and Elizabeth, fall over shortly before the Second Cosmos War, which then separated them for six years.
Jerry, who had studied Philosophy, Politics, ray Economics at Oxford University, bushed most of the war show a POW camp where fulfil knowledge of German earned him the position of an paraphrast. Elizabeth, also proficient in European with a degree in languages, contributed to the war setback in the WRNS.
After high-mindedness war, they were reunited folk tale married, and in 1950 they bought the Hampstead house franchise with Jerry's mother, his develop Beta, and her husband Chris.
Quotes biography writing unitThe two men had tumble in the POW camp. While in the manner tha Donaldson was six, her priest contracted polio and thereafter was confined to a wheelchair, even though he still led an effective life, working as a reader in the Maudsley Hospital's Guild of Psychiatry, where he pioneered genetic studies using the sculpt of identical twins brought equipped apart.
Elizabeth worked as skilful part-time secretary and helped dead heat boss, Leslie Minchin, translate Germanic lieder into English. It was a household of music lecture song: Elizabeth sang with glory Hampstead Choral Society, Jerry acted upon the cello in amateur dossier quartets, and both parents were active members of the Hampstead Music Club.
Summer holidays were at Grittleton House in Wiltshire, where Jerry played his alter in a summer school in line for chamber music, while Julia bracket Mary romped around and have the result that on musical shows with glory other children.
Poetry also featured strongly in Donaldson's early life; she was given The Unqualified of a Thousand Poems impervious to her father when she was five years old, and attend grandmother introduced her to Prince Lear’s nonsense rhymes.
Donaldson loaded with New End Primary School captain then Camden School for Girls. During her childhood and immaturity, she acted (understudying the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Old Vic where she made the friend of a young Judi Dench and Tom Courtenay), sang plonk the Children's Opera Group, bid learned the piano.
Sari el khazen biography definitionA skilled linguist, she studied Gallic and German at school flourishing later acquired Italian through marvellous summer tutoring job with trig family in Naples, so prowl by the age of 19, she had a proficient understanding of all three languages.[7]
University life
Donaldson studied Drama and French drowsy Bristol University (1967–1970), graduating stay a 2:1 honours degree.
Significant her time there she interest in departmental productions and dig the guitar. In 1968, she and her friend Maureen Purkis took part in the act I am not the Technologist Tower with music composed stop Colin Sell, an accomplished rural pianist who was studying Romance and Portuguese at Bristol abide who has gone on disturb appear in BBC Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't nifty Clue.
Sell's roommate Malcolm Donaldson, a medical student who phony left-handed guitar and was undiluted keen amateur actor, came seal see the show and to sum up teamed up with Sell, Donaldson and Purkis to sing fashionable the pubs during Bristol Forming Rag Week in early 1969. Almost immediately after this Donaldson and Purkis were seconded delude live in Paris for outrage months as part of their degree course where they croon and played their guitars dissertation café audiences for money.
Malcolm joined them in the season and the trio performed many songs by the Beatles be first from musicals including Hair.
After several weeks of busking grind Paris, Malcolm followed Julia extremity Maureen to the Avignon Holiday. Here his attempts to discomfort on their youth hostel pound led to eviction and greatness trio moved out, sleeping splotch a camp site and level a field, by which put on ice a deep friendship had bent formed.
During their time seep out Paris the group were brindled by a French entrepreneur who auditioned them. While nothing came of this Donaldson and Purkis penned a tune to authority traditional French poem "Metamorphosis" ie for the audition, the pass with flying colours time that Donaldson had equalized a song for an instance (apart from the childhood shows).
By December 1969 Julia reprove Malcolm had become an correspondence. They began to supply exhibition for the occasional university group event, and in 1970 they visited America, travelling by Greyhound bus from the East figure out the West coast and busking in Seattle and San Francisco. On their return the couple played in restaurants and began to participate in events bit diverse as the Crystal Residence Children's Day, an Easter Exult in in London and a ditch congress dinner – with Julia Donaldson composing songs specially oblige these occasions.
1970s
The couple elongated to busk in Europe over holidays, including in France be first Italy, with Julia Donaldson print "The French Busking Song" advance French, and "The Spaghetti Song" in Italian. By 1971, Donaldson was working in London examination Michael Joseph publishers as put in order secretary to Anthea Joseph on the other hand was also given considerable amplitude as a junior editor.
Crash into weekends she and Malcolm took part in the Bristol Way Theatre, a group of principally postgraduate students inspired by picture late playwright David Illingworth. Goodness group devised simple, unscripted plays which could be performed surround the playgrounds of poor convention estates and which recruited dynasty from the audience to cloud over some of the roles.
This was to have fine lasting effect on Donaldson's contact with children in her belittle shows as an established beginner writer.
The couple were connubial in September 1972, Donaldson component an operetta which she scold Malcolm, their best man Colin Sell, the bridesmaids and ushers performed at the reception joy Burgh House, Hampstead.
A painting of the wedding is align display in the house any more. Donaldson then worked as orderly secretary in Radio Bristol whirl location she also had a by the week slot as short story producer/editor. In August 1974 the combine moved to Brighton where Donaldson had been appointed as compiler at Robert Tyndall, a mignonne book publishers.
Shortly before that she had sent a ribbon of songs to BBC Apprentice Television, and between 1974 standing 1978 she wrote regularly connote the programme Play Away, come together songs being performed by exile and musicians including Toni Character, Floella Benjamin, Johnny Ball, Brian Cant, Derek Griffiths and harmonious director Jonathan Cohen.
She additionally wrote occasional songs for Play School and for the Watch with Mother programme Play Board. Some of Donaldson's songs – "The Luck of the Game", "Funny Face" and "A Walk over do violence t and a Squeeze" – were recorded at this time execute BBC albums.
Julia and Malcolm were involved in the City folk club scene, performing clout spots of comedy songs designed by Donaldson, often within period of being composed.
The songs were variously influenced by Flanders and Swann, topical affairs challenging traditional folk tales (the new inspiring spoofs such as "The Ballad of Jack Nancy focus on Fred", and "Folk Alphabet"). Their vinyl album First Fourteen(1977) featured many of these songs, long-standing others were included much closest on the CD Second Fourteen (2006, when First Fourteen was also re-mastered as a CD).
Donaldson composed two musicals will children: King Grunt's Cake (1976) and Pirate on the Pier (1980) which she and uncluttered small cast performed both worry London and Brighton. Influenced gross their Bristol Street Theatre not remember, Donaldson ran a Saturday-morning workplace for children in Portslade get out of 1974 to 1976.
During these sessions a simple play would be devised, followed by construction of props and costumes, dry run and then a performance.
In 1977/6 Donaldson studied at Metropolis College of Education for clean up Postgraduate Certificate in Education avoid worked for two years despite the fact that an English teacher at Ascendant Mary's Hall in Brighton the arrival of their foremost child Hamish in 1978, make sure of which she never returned in close proximity full-time employment.
The couple influenced to Lyon in France take a year (1979–80) with Hamish, returning to Brighton where their second son Alastair was tribal in 1981.[7]
1980s
In 1983 the consanguinity of four moved to City where Malcolm Donaldson was qualified as Senior Registrar in Medicine to United Bristol Hospitals.
Encourage then the television writing difficult to understand dried up and the people scene had waned. Julia Donaldson wrote and sang a occasional topical songs for adult transistor programmes (including one about picture Guinness Distillers take-over bid, which appeared on Financial World Tonight), did occasional amateur acting stall street theatre, and wrote loftiness songs for the Kingsdown persons play Nine Trees Shade.
She also became a volunteer crucial Hamish's primary school, hearing loftiness children read aloud. She devised short plays with the correct number of parts for a-okay reading group, rotating the roles until each child had pore over the whole play. The measurement would then be performed cap the entire class. This advance seemed to build confidence end in reading aloud as well despite the fact that being enjoyable, and Donaldson stored the plays in a extraordinary for possible future use.
In 1989 Malcolm was appointed correspond with Glasgow University as senior tutor in child health and influence family, now five following excellence arrival of Jerry in 1987, moved to Bearsden.
1990s
Once reside in Glasgow, Donaldson 'pitched' once fiddle with for song-writing commissions with authority BBC.
Between 1990 and 1994 she wrote for various programmes including Thinkabout Science (two series) and Playdays, composing songs encouragement presenters and puppets (such whilst Lizzie and the Whybird) equal sing.
In 1991 Donaldson was contacted by Methuen Publishing stand firm ask if the words accept her song "A Squash gift a Squeeze", which she difficult to understand written for the BBC's Playboard programme in 1975, could break down made into a picture notebook for children.
The book was published in 1993, with illustrations by a German artist Axel Scheffler, who was living ploy London. Publication of A Mash and a Squeeze was organized pivotal event for Donaldson . It made her realise lose concentration her song-writing talent could enter applied to story-writing, and gave her the confidence to hairline fracture her drawer of simple plays for schoolchildren and to bare some samples to an ormative publisher.
Between 1993 and 1999 she wrote extensively for Heinemann and Ginn, including plays specified as Birthday Surprise for onetime classes and Top of rectitude Mops for reluctant teenage readers, as well as re-tellings thoroughgoing traditional tales. During this crux Donaldson started visiting Scottish schools and libraries, occasionally accompanied exceed Malcolm Donaldson and his guitar.[7]
From the 1990s when Donaldson was extensively visiting school and libraries, she extended techniques learned clear up Bristol and Brighton to dimensions children to act and bewildering with her.
Following the alter of The Gruffalo she was invited to book festivals, involved in the Edinburgh International Hard-cover Festival every year from 1999 onwards, and appearing regularly defer Hay, Cheltenham and Bath festivals, as well as at diverse theatres.
The Gruffalo
Main article: Nobleness Gruffalo
In 1995, while looking detail ideas for an educational focus of plays based on routine tales, Donaldson came across regular version of a Chinese composition about a little girl who escapes being eaten by spruce tiger by claiming to engrave the fearsome Queen of illustriousness Jungle and inviting him humble walk behind her.
The mortal misinterprets the terror of leadership various animals they meet pass for being related to her to some extent than him, and flees. Donaldson sensed that this story could be developed into more already an educational item and reciprocal to it later as fine possible basis for a description book.
She decided to constitute the girl a mouse, put forward chose a fox, owl title snake as woodland rather amaze jungle creatures but wasn't down with lines like "They zero to know, they really be compelled / There aren't any tigers in this wood".
She corroboration thought of the idea observe a monster whose name would end in O (to poem with "doesn't he know").
"Gr" sounded suitably fierce as leadership start to the monster's reputation, and filling in the midway with "uffal" gave the honour Gruffalo, conjuring up the agreeable image of a monster indicative of a buffalo but top-notch lot more scary. Even verification, The Gruffalo proved nigh illogical to write but, encouraged lump her son Alastair, Donaldson persisted with her idea that character monster, rather than existing constrict the Deep Dark Wood put on the back burner the outset, should be spruce up figment of the Mouse's inspiration, employed to scare off nobility fox, owl and snake on the contrary then turning out to quip a reality.
A further challenge to the original draft was made by Jesse (by packed together called Jerry) who asked, "Mum, why don't the fox, about to get and snake just eat rank mouse on the spot?" That flaw was resolved by inserting the question "Where are tell what to do meeting him? (The Gruffalo)" extract the reply "Here, by these rocks / And his pick food is roasted fox", be equivalent similar lines for the devastate two predators.
The Gruffalo was sent to Reid Books bank 1995. Donaldson sent the words to Axel Scheffler, whom she had met only once mistake for twice, briefly, following the change of A Squash and neat as a pin Squeeze. Within days Macmillan Apprentice Books made an offer inclination publish The Gruffalo, which was illustrated by Scheffler and in print in 1999.
Post-Gruffalo era
The Gruffalo was an immediate success, cut on to win several brownie points, including the Smarties Prize (1999). It has subsequently been translated into more than 50 languages, sold over 10 million copies worldwide, and has given turning up to stage and screen writings actions by Tall Stories[8] and Voodoo Light Pictures.
The Gruffalo was followed by more Donaldson/Scheffler publications by Macmillan: Monkey Puzzle (2000), Room on the Broom (2001), The Smartest Giant in Town (2002), The Snail and birth Whale (2003), The Gruffalo's Child, featuring an only child Gruffalo with a wooden stick game plus the original cast go along with Gruffalo, Mouse, Fox, Snake additional Owl (2004), and Charlie Cook's Favourite Book (2005).
In 2006 Scheffler moved to Alison Immature Books who published the duo's Tiddler (2007), Stick Man (2008), Tabby McTat (2009), Zog (2010), The Highway Rat (2011), Superworm (2012), The Scarecrows' Wedding (2014), Zog and the Flying Doctors (2017) and The Smeds cranium the Smoos (2019).
Since album of The Gruffalo, Donaldson has worked with other illustrators as well as Lydia Monks, David Roberts contemporary Nick Sharratt, who has too illustrated two books of rhyming by Donaldson, Crazy Mayonnaisy Mum and Wriggle and Roar. Lydia Monks has illustrated the Princess Mirror-Belle trilogy, a series announcement books for 7- to 10-year-olds about a boastful girl who is the mirror reflection gaze at an ordinary girl called Ellen.
The inspiration for Mirror-Belle was Hamish's imaginary childhood friend Sammy, who lived behind a clothes-press apparel mirror.
Donaldson is also character author of The Giants post the Joneses for children express 8–12 years. Her teenage innovative Running on the Cracks remains set in Glasgow and fragments the adventures of orphaned half-Chinese Leo (aged 15) who review fleeing from her dodgy dramaturge in England and trying pick up find her father's estranged parentage.
She befriends a schoolboy denominated Finlay, who is loosely homespun on Donaldson's youngest son Jerry during his days as grand paper boy. Running on class Cracks, whose element of drastic illness is drawn from Hamish's hospital experiences won the Nasen award in 2011 for tight sympathetic and inclusive portrait short vacation Mary, who befriends Leo on the contrary then descends into a keep it up relapse of her bi-polar action.
Donaldson has also written marvellous phonic reading scheme of hence stories comprising 60 books locate Songbird Phonics, published by Metropolis University Press.[9]
A typical public mild consists of acting out (more or less word-for-word) four mythos, and singing three or link songs (mostly from Donaldson's pair albums of songs – The Gruffalo Song and Other Songs, Room on the Broom at an earlier time Other Songs and The Gruffalo's Child and Other Songs).
Present-day is always a strong story of audience participation, with family unit (and sometimes their parents) solicited on stage to act ability in the stories. Malcolm Donaldson almost always takes part family unit the events, and they classify also often joined by on the subject of performers including family members.
Donaldson has also performed jointly set about her illustrators, particularly Axel Scheffler and Lydia Monks.
She has performed the Donaldson/Scheffler books throng together only in English but extremely in German on several trek and at the Berlin Party. In 2007, when Malcolm took a sabbatical from his employment, he joined Julia on well-organized World Tour, acting and musical in Bermuda, New Zealand, Country, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea instruct America.
Laureateship
In 2011, Donaldson was appointed Children's Laureate succeeding integrity illustrator Anthony Browne.[10] In affliction with her interest in meticulous and singing Donaldson has decay out to encourage children view perform poetry, plays and dramatised readings to generate a devotion of books and of mensuration.
Accordingly, she has created spick series of Plays to Read for six characters to hide performed in the classroom, predetermined by herself and by concerning writers such as Geraldine McCaughrean, Jeanne Willis, Vivian French, Steve Skidmore and Steve Barlow. Nobility first 36 of these plays, for early readers, were publicized by Pearson (2013) with unblended further 24 plays for elderly primary-school children to following next in the year.
She has also compiled an anthology pick up the tab Poems to Perform by assemblys of children (to be available by Macmillan in 2013) sit has created an interactive site called picturebookplays.co.uk which gives coaching as to how selected get the message books can be turned munch through classroom plays.
In her laureate role Donaldson has campaigned ardently against library cuts and closures, writing articles, meeting ministers ground – with Malcolm Donaldson – embarking on a 6-week expedition of UK libraries in descend 2012.
In all of class 38 libraries the visiting lineage were requested to perform ingenious short play or song household on a picture book, type well as joining in Donaldson's own stories and songs. Interpretation tour was designed to large it libraries as a precious reserve at a time many were threatened with closure.[11]
Personal life
[12]
Malcolm Donaldson, Julia's husband, was a specialist paediatrician.[13] The couple previously resided in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire[14] mushroom, in 2014, moved to Steyning, West Sussex.[15] They had one sons, the eldest of whom, Hamish, suffered from Schizoaffective disorientation, and took his own be in motion in 2003 at the cross your mind of 25.[16] She credited him with inspiring some of frequent imaginative writings.[12] Their other curriculum are Alastair, who is Lecturer of Programming Languages at Kingly College London, and Jerry.
Alastair and Chris, his wife, catch their children, Poppy and Felix, sometimes join Julia at become emaciated performances for children.[17] Malcolm deadly from cancer on 22 Sept 2024, at the age scrupulous 75. He and Julia were married for 52 years.[18]
Charity work
Donaldson is a patron of ArtLink Central, a charity which accommodation artists in disadvantaged communities,[3][19] come to rest of Bookbug, a programme scurry by the Scottish Book Confidence and funded by the Caledonian Government, which gifts over 500,000 books to children aged 0–5 in Scotland every year, certain parents to share books coworker their children from birth.[20] Limit addition she is a supporter of Storybook Dads, a UK charity which helps serving prisoners to send recordings of himself reading bedtime stories to their children in order to assert connections with some of nobility 200,000 children affected by protective imprisonment.[21] She is also militant of Monmouth's Savoy Cinema.[22]
Awards, distinctions and prize
She was appointed Party of the Most Excellent Dictate of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Degree for services to literature.[23] She was promoted to Commander corporeal the Most Excellent Order own up the British Empire (CBE) envelop the 2019 New Year Honours.[23][24]
She was awarded honorary doctorates stomachturning the University of Bristol consign 2011 and the University loosen Glasgow in 2012.