Julia donaldson author biography

Born in 1948, Julia Donaldson was born and raised in North London with her younger sister, parents and extended family all sharing the family home. Her first interests were firmly rooted in music, her father being a Cello player and her mother a keen singer; herself and her sister were also members of the Children’s Opera Group.

Attending Bristol University to study French and Drama, Donaldson met Malcolm, her future husband and together they busked their way around Europe, making up songs in the language of the country they were visiting, before marrying and settling in Glasgow.

A writer of songs for children’s BBC television, her first publication ‘A Squash and a Squeeze’ in 1993 was as a direct result of her song writing abilities with this indeed originally beginning life as one of Donaldson’s musical compositions.

This first book was illustrated by Axel Scheffler and was set to be the beginning of a long and fruitful wor