My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.

This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.īefore Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country the best one was in Italian about pasta. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes. Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him). There’s always something new to see! The illustrations are inclusive in terms of ethnicity and disability which make this a brilliant book for all to read.I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. The bright illustrations are full of life, warmth, expression and tiny details that make this a wonderful book to come back to again and again. The story is told in rhyming couplets which are delicious to read aloud and share with children. Imogen Carter, Observer This is a truly wonderful book. It’s guaranteed to give children and parents the literary equivalent of a giant welcome home wag.Īlex O'Connell, Children's Book of the Week, The Times The verse skips along as cheerfully as Dot on her way round Wallaby Ward. whose beautiful, humorous ink drawings match perfectly the bounding words. aired with the supremely talented Sara Ogilvie. to put the two together in a story that barks to our age. Trust Julia Donaldson, the rhymetastic author. The NHS and dogs each keeps the nation’s heart beating.

The detective dog by julia donaldson