Julia Donaldson Books In Order

Publication Order of Gruffalo Books

Publication Order of My First Gruffalo Books

Publication Order of Princess Mirror-Belle Books

Publication Order of Stick Man Books

Publication Order of Superworm Books

Publication Order of Tales from Acorn Wood Books

Publication Order of What the Ladybird Heard Books

Publication Order of Zog Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Chapter Books

Publication Order of Picture Books

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of's Songbirds Collections Books

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Bug Club Books

Publication Order of Activity Books

Publication Order of Children's Books

Julia Donaldson
Author Julia Donaldson (born in 1948) grew up in a tall Victorian London house with her grandmother, parents, uncle, aunt, younger sister Mary, and kitty Geoffrey (really a prince in disguise). Her and Mary argued over which of them would marry him.

She and her sister were always busy creating imaginary characters and mimicking the real ones, and Julia would write shows and choreograph ballets for the both of them. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.

For her fifth birthday, her dad gave her a very fat book titled “The Book of a Thousand Poems”. She loved this book. She read the poems, recited and learned them, and made up some of her own. Even though she wanted to be a poet starting back then, she later decided she would rather go on stage. This didn’t quite work out, so she worked other jobs in publishing and teaching. Somehow she has been able to do what she wanted to when she was just five years old. She has a theory this happens to quite a few people.

She studied both French and Drama at Bristol University, where she met a guitar-playing medic named Malcolm that she’s now married to.

Before she and Malcolm had their family, they used to go busking together, and she’d write special songs for each country. The best one she did was about pasta. This busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, primarily for children’s television. She was an expert at writing to order on subjects like window-cleaning, guinea pigs, and awful smells. She would be asked to write songs about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin, something she says was a typical request from the BBC.

Julia continued writing “grown-up” songs and performing them in folk clubs and on the radio, and has released them on CD. One such song, sung by Malcolm and titled “Cochon Blues” was played as one of her picks when she was on a Radio 4 program called Desert Island Discs.

“A Squash and A Squeeze”, one of her television songs, was turned into a book in the year 1993, with illustrations by Axel Scheffler. It was fantastic for Julia to hold the book in her hand without it disappearing into the air the same way the songs would. It prompted her to unearth some plays that she’d written for a school reading group, and since then she has had over forty plays published. Most kids love acting and it is a fantastic way to improve their reading skills.

Her real breakthrough was her book “The Gruffalo”, once again illustrated by Axel. They work separately, with her in Glasgow and him in London, but he sends her letters with lovely and funny pictures on the envelopes.

Julia enjoys writing verse a lot, despite it being incredibly difficult at times. In her younger years, she used to memorize poems and it means a lot to her when parents will tell her their kid is able to recite one of her books.

Oddly enough, she finds it even harder to write not in verse, though has gotten the hang of it and has written stories for teenagers, and older kids.

When she writes a rhyming book, she begins with a pen or a pencil, writing it down in a huge exercise book and doing a bunch of doodles along the way. If the book isn’t going to rhyme, she will write it on the computer.

It can take months or even years for the idea to grow inside her mind and for her to plan the book out. This is a very important part of the process. Then, when she’s ready it could take anywhere between a week (for a picture book) and six months (for a chapter book) to actually write it. It took her a year to plan and get all her ideas together for “The Gruffalo”, obviously she was working on other things as well. The actual writing took her only about two weeks.

Julia finds that the actual writing process is hard work. She often gets stuck, or feel that she’s plodding along in an uninspired way. When she realizes that the story is working, it can be quite an exciting feeling and she loves doing all of the polishing touches at the very end. It is lovely when the first rough illustrations show up and she’s able to get a glimpse at how her characters will look.

She writes in her head while out for a walk or in the bath. She has her own study and sometimes she writes in the library or on trains.

When she isn’t busy writing, she’s often performing, in theaters and book festivals. She really enjoys getting the kids in the audience to help her act out the stories and sing all the songs. Malcolm almost always accompanies her too, with his guitar. It feels to Julia as though they have come full circle, back to busking.

Her hobbies include singing, walking, playing the piano, and cycling. Julia is also interested in fungi and wild flowers.

From 2011-2013, she was the UK Children’s Laureate and has been honored with an MBE for Services to Literature.

“Princess Mirror-Belle” is the first novel in the “Princess Mirror-Belle” series and was released in the year 2003. Ellen gets a huge shock when her exact double appears out of the mirror in the bathroom. Only Mirror-Belle is a double with a difference!

She is a princess, and quite a mischievous one. Whether she is riding the ghost train at the fair, wreaking havoc in some department store, or seeing off bullies in the playground, she is a princess with a purpose. She is out to cause as much trouble as she can.

“Princess Mirror-Belle and the Flying Horse” is the third novel in the “Princess Mirror-Belle” series and was released in the year 2006. Princess Mirror-Belle has returned! Once more, the magically mischievous Mirror-Belle pops out of mirrors to lead Ellen into five funny adventures.

Whether she is telling tall tales about her winged pony, turning herself into the strangest Sleeping Beauty, or hunting for a sea monster’s treasure, her magical mayhem is packed full of fun!