British Picture Books: Julia Donaldson

Julia Donaldson's work is quite accessible in the US and Canada now, but she is the Dr. Seuss of the UK. Her work is everywhere! Being honest, I like her stuff, but it isn't my favorite. That said, Donaldson's work has become regular reading material in this house and we all enjoy it.

Jonah's favorite is The Gruffalo, which was the only gift he wanted Santa to bring when he was three. Santa obliged and Mum has found several other Donaldson books at charity shops, so our collection continues to grow and we frequently bring her books home from the library. I really like The Snail and the Whale and A Squash and a Squeeze (which was originally a song.)

You can find out more about Julia Donaldson here - including a funny poem about a day in her life, which is a great bit to share with any aspiring young author. Her most famous works (both photos above) are illustrated by Alex Sheffler and are simple picture books. She also has several books for wee ones illustrated by Nick Sharratt - I'm not crazy about the illustrations, but both my boys LOVE the books. Jonah recently read one of her early readers Apollo the Swallow and it was quite clever.

Friends have seen Julia Donaldson, who lives in Glasgow, perform and say she is fabulous (she reads and sings - her writing career started as a busker.) Hopefully we'll get a chance to see her before we leave and Jonah and I have tickets to a theater production of the Gruffalo in September. And while we wait we'll keep reading.