8 19 December 2021THE UNDISPUTED QUEEN
Festive favourite
Julia Donaldson’s
new book,
The Christmas
Pine. Left:
Donaldson,
whose book
Superworm has
been adapted by
the BBC, below.
Right: The
Gruffalo©JULIA DONALDSON AND VICTORIA SANDØY, 2020 & 2021 (ALISON GREENBOOKS). INSETS: STEVE ULLATHORNE, MAGIC LIGHT PICTURES LTD, AXEL SCHEFFLERt
he bestselling author in Brit-
ain, by far, writes about sticks,
paper dolls and snails hitching
lifts on whales. Her words
fill gaps at bedtime between
brushing teeth and sleep,
and given that she’s sold 29.5 million
books in the UK over the past decade,
nobody soundtracks children’s lives
like her. JK Rowling? Just 9.7 million
UK copies in this period. David Wal-
liams? Closer, but only 20.7 million
books flogged. The undisputed master
is Julia Donaldson; a 73-year-old who
outsells James Patterson, Lee Child and
George RR Martin put together.
We meet in a cosy library in London
to sip tea by a warming fire. Forget pop
stars; when I told parents of young chil-
dren that I was meeting Donaldson,
they all gasped and recited her poetic
tales, which come with drawings. We
know them by heart. The Gruffalo, Stick
Man, Room on the Broom. This Christ-
mas, her story of a good worm falling on
hard times, Superworm, gets the BBC
animated treatment. She also has a gor-
geous new book, The Christmas Pine.
In person, this woman with more
influence on early memory than most
family members is quiet, a little deaf —
the most unassuming millionaire I
have met.
Home is Steyning in Sussex, where
she is a hero after she and her hus-
band, Malcolm, bought the local post
office to save it. Yet young children
often have no idea that books even
have authors — is she recognised at all?
“Often parents say, ‘This is the lady
who wrote your favourite book,’ ” she
says, smiling. “They look confused.
They think that you make individ-
ual books for them.” Still, some
do write to her — one boy said he
didn’t like The Gruffalo because
it was far too repetitive. He
gave her some suggestions.
Letters from parents are
different — heartbreaking
ones saying that they are to
bury one of her books with
their child. But this is the
effect Donaldson has. She
is read to children at that
most extraordinary bit of
parenting, when it’s so
new and fun and scary. I
assume there must be
immense pride in that.“When children get older,” she says,
“and read books by themselves, those
picture books are remembered as
something parents and children shared.
It can be a lovely time. Soothing,
together, even if you’ve ticked them off
or they’ve had a tantrum. At the end of
the day, you make up and share. A chil-
dren’s author like me sneaks in to
become part of that love and maybe get
more credit than I deserve.”
Now on to bookshelves goes The
Christmas Pine, illustrated in lovely,
subtle brush tones by our cover artist
Victoria Sandoy. Last year, Donaldson
was commissioned to write a poem to
accompany the Christmas tree in Tra-
falgar Square and this is that. It is a
story of a tree cut from the forest
and taken to London, where it
is enjoyed before being
replaced the next year. Don-
aldson had the phrase
“Grow and shine” in her
head, to do with trees and,
also, children, and that
forms the basis of the story.
“Life and death, rejuvenation,”
she explains. “It’s a story about life.”
In 2003, Donaldson’s eldest of threeJulia Donaldson is adored
by millions of children and
outsells JK Rowling. She
tells Jonathan Dean about
Gruffalo-mania and why it’s
adults who should worry
about their screen time
COVER STORY
Julia
Donaldson
and Axel Scheffler’s
Superworm is on
BBC1 on Christmas
Day at 2.30pm