Julia Donaldson on becoming a widow, facing rejection and grammar pet peeves

Louise FlindMon, September 14, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTC

0

Dame Julia Donaldson is perhaps best known for her best-selling book, The Gruffalo - Andrew Crowley

77-year-old Dame Julia Donaldson is Britain’s best-selling author, known for her popular rhyming stories including The Gruffalo.

Best childhood memory?

When I was about 12, I understudied the fairies Cobweb, Moth and Mustardseed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Old Vic because I was in this children’s opera group. I was stage-struck to begin with and I was even more stage-struck at the end of the run. I would just sit backstage on Old Ninny’s tomb watching. I knew that play off by heart.

Best children’s book in your opinion?

Edith Nesbit’s The Enchanted Castle. The best bit is when the children put on this play and they haven’t got an audience so they dress up some hat and umbrella stands in clothes and call them the Ugly-Wuglies. Then the Ugly-Wuglies come to life and they’re not very nice. They go to London and the children track them down, and there’s a brass plaque outside their office door saying U Wugly Esq. It’s quite terrifying but also funny.

Favourite writing experience?

Writing The Paper Dolls because I saw this picture on the front of one of my husband’s medical magazines that was representing a family as five paper dolls. I just knew I was going to do paper dolls; they’re going to be cut up and they’re going to live in the little girl’s memory. The whole thing came in a flash, which it very rarely does.

Dame Julia sett a new Guinness World Record for the longest chain of paper dolls in 2013 - Getty ImagesBest advice you’ve been given?

When I was about 13 there was a girl in my class who I think was a bit jealous of me, and she persuaded a lot of people to rush to the tube station after school so I wouldn’t have anyone to go home with. One of the other girls guiltily told me. I was very upset, and my wise old aunt told me to confront her, not in an aggressive way, and ask her what was going on, and whether she had something against me. I did that, and it all stopped.

Best feedback you’ve ever had from a child?

If I’ve done a performance, they might say: “this is the best day of my life”. But I’ve also had letters saying: “Dear Julia Donaldson, I really like your books. That’s enough about you, now on to me. I have blonde hair and blue eyes and a pony…”. Often their feedback is much more about themselves.

Best performance experience you’ve had?

I did the Edinburgh Fringe four times and I best like acting The Scarecrow’s Wedding, because Malcolm [her husband who died in 2024] and I acted the two main Scarecrows, Betty O’Barley and Harry O’Hay, who are in love and eventually get married. We did a little dancey walk with our arms out and it was just great fun. And then I had a wonderful scene with Reginald Rake, the David Niven-like bad scarecrow who tries to seduce me.

Best book you’ve ever read?

I read An Equal Music by Vikram Seth maybe 20 years ago, but I remember thinking this book has it all. It’s about deafness, music and love, and it’s very moving.

Julia Donaldson and German illustrator Axel Scheffler created The Gruffalo together - Getty Images / Colin McPhersonBest thing about being a dame?

I’ve only been a dame for a few weeks. I think it’s really that Malcolm would have been so delighted. I knew he wanted me to be one, even though he didn’t like the word dame, and even though he wouldn’t have benefited because he wouldn’t have had a title himself. Plus, obviously, I see it as a recognition, not just for me but for the importance of children’s books, and I think that’s really valuable.

Advertisement

Worst childhood memory?

As a child, I remember I was sitting on this lady’s knee. It was the 1950s, everyone had these lovely gathered dresses, and then I suddenly realised I’d wet my knickers, and I knew when I got off her lap, she’d see this wet stain on her dress. It was where we went on holiday to Grittleton, to a summer school of music and my father played the cello and this lady was a fellow musician. I loved going there and I was excited and couldn’t be bothered to go to the loo.

Worst habit?

Correcting people on their grammar. I hate it when people say on MasterChef: “you are going to cook for Grace and I” instead of “for Grace and me”. In fact, in the wedding speech of one of my sons, he said, “we’re so grateful for everything you’ve done for Chris and I”. I said, “me”, interrupting the wedding speech. That was sort of fun. I don’t think it was that annoying, but people probably do find it annoying. One of my editors even makes this mistake.

Worst thing anyone has said to you?

This isn’t actually at all typical of my mother, I’d probably just been awful, but she said: “now I know what grandpa means about you”. I thought that my grandfather, her father, liked me, but I found out he thought I was terribly mean to my little sister. I probably was a bit bossy, but I wasn’t horrible. We used to stay with my grandparents in Bournemouth every August and there was a wonderful second-hand bookshop, and my birthday was in September, and so my sister would naturally buy me a birthday present. But my grandfather accused me of making her spend all her pocket money on me, when I’d done the same for her birthday in July.

Donaldson was awarded an MBE for her services to literature in 2011 - Getty Images / John StillwellWorst thing about being a writer?

Doing interviews. Also getting rejection letters is horrible. When I was starting out a friend of mine’s mother was a novelist, and she said that when you send something out and you are waiting for it to come back, quickly send something else out, so when you receive the rejection, instead of just beating your fists on the floor you can think: “maybe this other manuscript will fare better”.

Worst performance experience you’ve had?

Probably when The Gruffalo fell off the stage. We were doing a little theatre tour and we’d hired someone to be in the Gruffalo costume. He came very late to one performance and put on the costume but hadn’t done a recce, so he didn’t notice where the stage stopped and the audience began. I was the mouse, and we were both on stage, and he just wandered towards the edge of the stage. I thought he was larking about, but he put a foot over and suddenly tumbled down. Thankfully the costume was quite padded, and the audience laughed. They thought it was intentional.

Worst thing you’ve ever bought?

A hula hoop which I intended to use every day of my life to do 1,000 hula hoops. I was a champion as a child – I did 5,558 spins of the hula hoop once. I still remember that figure, so I bought one and I can still do it, but I never find time for it.

Absolute worst thing ever?

Dread and anticipation. My husband died recently and it was perhaps even worse before he died. I was dreading his death and dreading being widowed, maybe worse than it’s actually been.

Born in 1948 in London, Julia Donaldson is a writer, playwright and, from 2001-2013, was the children’s laureate. As a young woman she travelled Europe as a folk musician, devised short plays for children and worked as a junior editor at Michael Joseph publishers. In 1993, the words to one of her folk songs for children, A Squash and a Squeeze, were published as a children’s book and illustrated by German artist Axel Scheffler, beginning a partnership which would endure throughout the rest of her career. In 1999 she adapted and reworked a Chinese story into a westernised fable, naming the monster at its heart The Gruffalo. The children’s book became a hit and propelled Donaldson into the mainstream. She followed it with other rhyming stories including Room on the Broom and The Snail and the Whale. In January 2025 she became Britain’s best-selling author, overtaking J K Rowling. Donaldson lives in West Sussex, and was widowed after the death of her husband of 52 years, Malcolm Donaldson, in 2024.

Gruffalo Granny, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler (Macmillan Children’s Books, £14.99) is out now.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”