Julia Donaldson
About Author
Julia Donaldson started her career writing songs for children's television. In 1993, one of her songs was made into a book, A Squash and a Squeeze.
Julia is a frequent visitor to Scottish schools and libraries, where she talks, acts and sings with her audiences.
For three years she was writer in residence in Easterhouse, which culminated in the publication of an anthology of writing and pictures by local adults, All Write. Julia lives in Bearsden, Glasgow, with her husband Malcolm, their youngest son and three cats.
Since A Squash and a Squeeze, she has written more than 40 books and plays for children and teenagers, including the rhyming story The Gruffalo which won three major British book awards (the Smarties Prize, the Blue Peter award for 'The Best Book to Read Aloud' and the Experian 'Big Three award') and which is one of the UK's best-selling picture book.
The Gruffalo's Child, the sequel to The Gruffalo, was published in September 2004 and won the British Book Award: WH Smith Best Children's Book Award 2005 and was shortlisted for the Red House Children's Book Award. CHARLIE COOK'S FAVOURITE BOOK, a library within a book, was published in 2005.
Room on the Broom was the winner of the Best Book to Read Aloud category of the Blue Peter Awards 2003.
Other books written by Julia and illustrated by Axel Scheffler are: Stick Many; Tiddler; The Smartest Giant in Town; The Snail and the Whale; Monkey Puzzle; Fox's Socks; Postman Bear; Rabbit's Nap and Hide-and-Seek Pig.
Julia has worked with different illustrators. THE MAGIC PAINTBRUSH is a brilliant retelling of a classic folktale, which is illustrated by Joel Stewart. SHARING A SHELL, a rollicking story of sea, shells and friendship is was published in July 2004 and is illustrated by Lydia Monks whilst Anna Currey's soft, traditional illustrations feature in ONE TED FALLS OUT OF BED (PB, 2004, HB 2005) and ROSIE'S HAT (HB 2005, PB 2006). TYRANNOSAURUS DRIP was published in 2007 and is illustrated by Dave Roberts.
Julia has also published several novels. PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE was published in August 2003 and the sequel, PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE AND THE MAGIC SHOES published in February 2005 with PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE AND THE FLYING HORSE followed in 2006.
In 2009, Julia moved into writing for young adults with 'Running on the Cracks', which follows Leo after she runs away from her aunt and uncle to discover her family's roots.
Interview
Julia Donaldson is best known as the author of the children's book, The Gruffalo. However, she has also written several plays for teenagers. Running on the Cracks is her first novel for older readers.
Q: What made you decide to write a YA book?
A: I was asked some years ago to write a play for this age range and at the time, my son was doing a paper round and it sparked an idea. Suppose a paper boy found out something secret, something hidden behind a door - a runaway, perhaps? I never did write it as a play but decided it would make a good novel.
Q: Does it usually take a long time for an idea to develop into a book?
A: I do spend a long time mulling over things before I write it. It's the same with my picture books. It's important for me to have the plot worked out.
Q: What sort of book do you like reading?
A: I've always liked books where someone is transposed from one setting to another, those survival stories where someone only has 17 and has to watch where every penny goes. In this story, 14 year old Leo runs away from her aunt's family in Bristol to find out about her late father's family in Glasgow. I used to live in Bristol and now I live in Glasgow so they are both areas I know well.
Q: Glasgow is often portrayed as a very tough place to live - is it?
A: There are a lot of films and books based in Glasgow which tackle things like child prostitution and drugs but I really wanted to steer away from that and show a different aspect to Glasgow, one where real families live and the arts thrive, alongside a world where people do have mental illness and survive on benefits. But these are also quite colourful characters.
Q: You give Leo quite a tough time, too, starting with her parents dying in a plane crash and then having a terrible time at her aunt and uncle's house.
A: I had to orphan Leo because I didn't want her to just to be sent home at the end of the story. At the beginning, she loses everything - her parents, her home, her security - and she has to start anew. It's a story about healing. She finds a motley group of people who become her new family and there's a positive ending for her.
Q: Are any of the characters based on people you know?
A: Mary, who has the mental illness, is based on a woman I used to see outside a hospital who would talk to anyone. Finlay, the boy who helps Leo, is not as together as she is even though he is the one with the stable family. And he goes through a Goth phase, which my own son did - all those pointless chains and dyed hair.... And just like Finlay, my children were always bringing home those yellow slips from school for being late.
