Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Gruffalo creator Julia Donaldson is new children's laureate | Books | The Guardian

Gruffalo creator Julia Donaldson is new children's laureate

Julia-donaldson460
Donaldson plans to promote music and drama and champion libraries during her tenure as the new children's laureate.

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Julia Donaldson, known to millions of unsleepy children and their drooping adult bedtime readers as the creator of the Gruffalo, he of the "terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws", has been appointed the new children's laureate.

"The laureateship is an honour but it's not the kind of honour you can just bask in, so I'm planning to have quite an active two years," she said. "I'm hoping to bring some drama and music to the job. I always act out my own stories with lots of audience participation so I'm planning to do lots more of that. I hope to encourage and inspire children to act stories out, though it's too early to say whether there will be one major theatrical event."

Donaldson becomes the seventh laureate, and was described as "a wonderful choice" by one of her predecessors, the poet Michael Rosen.

"She has written such accessible and brilliant books and she's so clever and funny. She believes in taking her stuff out to kids, and sharing it," he said.

Her immediate predecessor, the illustrator Anthony Browne, left her an open letter urging: "Do everything you can to support libraries – God knows, they need every bit of help they can get nowadays." Everyone, he warned, "will pay the price in the long term" for school and public library closures.

In fact Donaldson, who lives near Glasgow and is the first Scottish-based laureate, needed no urging. In recent months she has flung herself into the campaign to save libraries, leading a protest meeting at the Scottish parliament, signing petitions, and turning up at readings in libraries in Scotland and England.

She is promising even more ardent efforts in her new role.

"I'd love to do a libraries tour from Land's End to John O'Groats," she said. "The children who would come to events in libraries would have been briefed beforehand that they would come to perform something to me, so the first 10 minutes of each session they might perform a class poem they had written or act out a favourite picture book.

"Maybe I'll be able to talk to the minister of culture and persuade the government to have some kind of overall plan because at the moment I feel all the library cuts and closures are very piecemeal, so I'll do what I can," she added.

Donaldson is expecting to be very busy in her new role: "Anne Fine, one of the previous laureates, sent me an email saying the most important thing is to book two really good holidays."

She already receives sackloads of post, including mass write-ins from at least 30 schools a month; she puts her favourites on display in her bathroom. "I got one the other day saying: 'Dear Julia Donaldson, do you have your own library? And do you have your own husband?'"

Although she has written 120 books for various age groups, her superstar is the outwardly ferocious Gruffalo, written in deceptively simple verse with illustrations by Axel Scheffler, which was first published in 1999.

Just 700 words across 32 pages, the tale of an anxious mouse struggling to keep his courage up and a cowardly monster was instantly recognised as a classic, laden with awards, and has now -- taking together The Gruffalo's Child and other related Gruffalo books -- sold more than 10.5m copies, and been translated into languages including Polish, Hebrew, Lithuanian and Russian.

The sequel, The Gruffalo's Child, won a best children's book award in 2005, and the original was voted the best bedtime story of all time by BBC radio listeners in 2009. The Gruffalo has recently sparked a multimillion pound merchandising operation on a scale to rival the other furry marketing Exocet, Paddington Bear.

The jagged-toothed creature is now available as a mug, a doll or a duvet cover, a 30-minute animation with the voices of Robbie Coltrane and James Corden as monster and mouse, and a stage show which has run in London's West End for the past five Christmases and looks likely to become a seasonal fixture.

Donaldson takes on a role that was dreamed up by Ted Hughes, then poet laureate, and his friend Michael Morpurgo, to mark a lifetime's contribution to children's literature and highlight the importance of children's books.

The first laureateship was awarded to the illustrator Quentin Blake in 1999 and Morpurgo himself took on the role in 2003. Previous children's laureates include the creator of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson, and novelist Anne Fine. The winner is presented with a medal and a bursary of £15,000.

The former children's television presenter Floella Benjamin chaired the panel of judges, which included children's book reviewers, lecturers and buyers, and the judges considered nominations from children, who could vote online, and organisations representing libraries, critics and writers.

The Waterstone's children's laureate 2011-2013 is managed by literature charity Booktrust

• This article was amended on 10 June 2011. To clarify: the titles whose sales total more than 10.5m include The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and other related Gruffalo books (including activity and song books).

Comments in chronological order (Total 77 comments)

  • This symbol indicates that that person is The Guardian's staffStaff
  • This symbol indicates that that person is a contributorContributor
  • intheglen

    7 June 2011 12:20PM

    yeah! she has kept me sane and the kids entertained for many more hours than i care to count over the last couple of years. she's a genius and an angel. good luck to her.

  • mexicanbandit

    7 June 2011 12:31PM

    I am involved in the design and construction of some new academies and am horrified by the lack of books. There are libraries in these academies that are no more than social spaces for students. Learning is done by computer with interactive white boards etc.
    If libraries are not supported at this level we will lose generations of people wanting to read and look at books

  • Contributor
    MichaelRosen

    7 June 2011 12:32PM

    Julia has created books that I've seen children of all ages and backgrounds absolutely loving: they are clever, funny, humane and full of feeling and thought. What's more, children remember whole chunks of them. She takes her own shows out to schools and festivals and there are people always keen to put on versions of her books. It's all great for her, great for children and great for children's books. Hurrah.

  • gordonstru

    7 June 2011 12:32PM

    Brilliant appointment.

    My favourite of her books is A Squash and a Squeeze. Just fantastic poetry, wisdom and humour.

    And much recognition due to Axel Scheffler, the illustrator of her books.

  • KateP

    7 June 2011 12:44PM

    She's a real library supporter, so I'm hopeful.

    If she does one thing, it should be to campaign for library provision to be compulsory in schools, with protected funding and Ofsted rating depending on it.

  • curtlyambrose

    7 June 2011 1:00PM

    Brilliant appointment.

    My favourite of her books is A Squash and a Squeeze. Just fantastic poetry, wisdom and humour.

    And much recognition due to Axel Scheffler, the illustrator of her books.

    exactly what I was going to say.

    Congratulations to her.

  • mattdiamond

    7 June 2011 1:00PM

    "Silly old Pauli, doesn't she appreciate

    There's no such thing as a Children's Laureate!"

    (But glad she's speaking up for libraries)

  • gpjcyprus

    7 June 2011 1:03PM

    This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs.

  • tomo42

    7 June 2011 1:08PM

    I really like her books too and think she's a great choice.

    One tiny thing - has anyone else noticed that bits of Zog don't quite scan?

  • iaia78

    7 June 2011 1:08PM

    Wonderful choice!

    My husband and I love her books and the fact that they're actually enjoyable to read, even over and over again!

    As well The Gruffalo, Stick Man and Tyrannosaurus Drip are favourites in our house.

  • sadoldpedant

    7 June 2011 1:14PM

    Sorry to introduce a sour note, but I strongly dislike The Gruffalo: I just can't take the bits that are, if not plagiarized from, then certainly uncomfortably similar to, Where The Wild Things Are. (One could say the same about the illustrations too.) And the rhymes are forced. It just not written well enough to deserve its reputation as a great classic of children's literature.

  • Deportivodeej

    7 June 2011 1:15PM

    Top quality choice.

    We have most of her books and cd's too.

    Of all of them I particularly enjoy Snail and the Whale and The Magic Paintbrush. But my youngest son is first and foremost a Gruffalo fan.

  • Contributor
    AnnabelWynne

    7 June 2011 1:16PM

    Absolutely brilliant choice, she will be wonderful in this post. Good news all round.

    Unfortunate that the photographer took her portrait at exactly the same angle as the accompanying Gruffalo illustration. :-/

  • Deportivodeej

    7 June 2011 1:21PM

    sadoldpedant - That is a sour and not to mention mealymouthed note. Accusations of similarities to WTWTA are pretty baseless.

    WTWTA is probably a better book but I just don't get your point. From my view the books are visualy and thematicaly different and the synchpated language of WTWTA is totaly different to the gentler flow of The Gruffalo.

  • davidpostlelondon

    7 June 2011 1:26PM

    I can't think of a better person for the job. My Daughter loves them over and over again. Tiddler & a squash and a squeeze are my personal favourites.

  • Monkey21

    7 June 2011 1:31PM

    I'd have to take issue with saoldpedant...Gruffalo is quite different in tone & illustrations from "wild things"...the message is totally different also... as an aside & maybe its just me but i think it can be read as a metaphor for US intervention in the middle east (only kind of joking)...which may be where you confuse it with wild things ...he he

    Anyway it's a very clever & charming story, (as is the gruffalos child, if not quite as good). I love all the ineteconnecting elements of her stories - stick man's cameos etc. She's a great appointment

    If you're a parent of young children , she's a godsend, as her work is enjoyed by both parent & child . "The snail & the Whale" is the masterpiece though...a perfect childrens book....

    Re <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/11071104"

    I'm sure the photgrapher knew exactly what they were doing....

  • brainsoftheoperation

    7 June 2011 1:33PM

    The Gruffalo is excellent but my four year old's favourite (and mine) is Charlie Cook's Favourite Book.

    Much credit, again, to the illustrations which we always take time to look at because they show us that books are magical and can make the play things real. he he he.

    He is scared of gruffaloes but that's ok because so am I so we look after each other when he appears.

  • Foxest

    7 June 2011 1:33PM

    Everyone seems to agree? Why? Just because it's right?

    What is the world coming to?

  • Lasereyedcorgis

    7 June 2011 1:36PM

    Sorry to introduce a sour note, but I strongly dislike The Gruffalo: I just can't take the bits that are, if not plagiarized from, then certainly uncomfortably similar to, Where The Wild Things Are. (One could say the same about the illustrations too.) And the rhymes are forced. It just not written well enough to deserve its reputation as a great classic of children's literature.

    Which bits would those be then? They are absolutely nothing like each other in any respect other than each have a monster in them. They have no similar themes, there's no similarity in writing style and there's absolutely no sharing of subtext. Other than that they are identical.

    as for it being a 'great classic of children's literature'. Maybe it's not up there with the best of Roald Dahl, but children love it, and that's all that really matters in that field.

  • OurPlanet

    7 June 2011 1:38PM

    Sounds a really creative woman. We need her over here in Canada where she could lighten up the world for many disabled and sick children.

  • iamnotwise

    7 June 2011 1:38PM

    Great children's books. I like Room On The Broom especially.

    Good choice, though she's got her work cut out for her with the charming Government we currently have.

  • dan1973

    7 June 2011 1:54PM

    Hey, one thing though Donaldson:

    Giraffe does NOT rhyme with scarf. Not where I come from.

    Otherwise, jolly good.

  • SpaceInvader

    7 June 2011 2:13PM

    One of the best of all time. Books like The Stickman are so incredibly clever. The wordplay is so natural it makes you think the language was specifically invented for Julia Donaldson to do what she does with it. Congratulations Julia.

  • joshthedog

    7 June 2011 2:15PM

    She's ok.

    I wonder how many people would buy an unillustrated compendium of her work?

    I had the absolute priviledge of meeting Axel Scheffler recently. A more humble and self-critical man, it would be hard to meet. He took the time to sign about 6 of our children's books, each with a little sketch. He told us that he thought he could have done a better job on the Gruffalo -- one of the most iconic images in children's literature today.

    However, that image is HIS creation. Julia Donaldson gave him some parameters, like spines and so forth. It is his enduring images which put the pictures in young children's minds. Both have said in interviews that there is very little extra communication between the author and the artist.

    Having said that, I do not believe that either would have had the success they have had without each other.

    At the VERY least, this should have been a joint role Donaldson and Scheffler. Scheffler made Donaldson's work as ludicrously marketable and merchandisable as it is.

  • Zirbelnuss

    7 June 2011 2:18PM

    Julia Donaldson would be welcome for tea in our logpile house any time. (You're right, though, tomo42, but I forgive her!)

  • reverend61

    7 June 2011 2:35PM

    @joshthedog

    I had the absolute priviledge of meeting Axel Scheffler recently. A more humble and self-critical man, it would be hard to meet. He took the time to sign about 6 of our children's books, each with a little sketch. He told us that he thought he could have done a better job on the Gruffalo -- one of the most iconic images in children's literature today.

    However, that image is HIS creation. Julia Donaldson gave him some parameters, like spines and so forth. It is his enduring images which put the pictures in young children's minds. Both have said in interviews that there is very little extra communication between the author and the artist.

    Having said that, I do not believe that either would have had the success they have had without each other.

    You know, you're spot on with that. I'm a big fan of her books (having had to read the Gruffalo more or less every night for the past two months you find yourself falling in line) but it is the illustrations that make them particularly memorable. The style even bleeds over into the animated Gruffalo, which - despite its CG approach - strongly resembles the work of Scheffler. He sounds like a nice chap, too.

  • sadoldpedant

    7 June 2011 3:20PM

    Clearly I should clarify my earlier remark. I completely agree that the story as a whole is nothing like Where The Wild Things Are. I'm actually referring to a couple of sentences where the wording is so similar that anyone familiar with WTWTA cannot help noticing. Unfortunately I don't have The Gruffalo in front of me so can't give the exact quotation, but it's the sentence involving terrible claws. If you don't believe me, go back and read the two books and put those parts side by side: the echo is just too strong.

    I'm not accusing Julia Donaldson of plagiarism. I think probably she just unconsciously used words from a book with which she was undoubtedly familiar. It's an easy thing to do, but a better writer would have noticed and changed it.

    To repeat -- I'm talking about some of the detailed wording and not the story in its entirety, or the atmosphere, or anything like that. But that little detail just kills the book for me. Without it, the book's success would still be inexplicable, but I wouldn't find it positively irritating -- just averagely charming, like many children's books that are churned out these days.

  • sadoldpedant

    7 June 2011 3:28PM

    OK, found it online.

    From The Gruffalo:

    "A gruffalo? What's a gruffalo?"
    "A gruffalo! Why, didn't you know? He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws."

    From Where The Wild Things Are:

    "And when he came to the place where the wild things are
    they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth
    and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws"

    Again, to forestall any misunderstanding, I'm not claiming these are identical (the scansion is different for a start -- I much prefer Sendak's) but you can't read the first without being strongly reminded of the second (assuming you're familiar with it).

  • 4hd93kiw

    7 June 2011 3:29PM

    I would like to say that her work is just typical contemporary dross or detritus, but some of it is more sinister than that. I admit that I have only read Gruffalo and A Squash And A Squeeze, but they can by no means be classed as literature.

    A Squash and a Squeeze is the repackaging of a Jewish folk-tale, which, depending on one’s opinion, is either a fresh retelling or plagiarism, but the tale does at least have meaning and purpose. I have nothing against the book.

    Gruffalo, on the other hand, verges on Kafkaesque. I don’t think this was intended, because I don’t think that Donaldson is that evil. Even my nephew, after watching the televised version (the irony of another picture book for small children being converted to the screen so that it will reach those with even shorter attention and smaller comprehension: this is about market penetration not philanthropy) expressed the moral as: “so lying gets you what you want!” The main character in the story has no scruples, no responsibility and experiences no distinction between reality and imagination nor between truth and lie. Unlike Metamorphosis where the protagonist experiences the impossible nightmare (and the story actually has a point) it’s every character but the protagonist that suffers here; even the nightmare experiences the nightmare. The protagonist lives happily ever after in the moment; no justice is done because there would only be justice if he were to imagine it. I think the book has no intended point beyond being amusing so here Donaldson has out-Kafkaed Kafka. Existentialism for the under-fives served in the post-modern way. Either that or it’s a glimpse into the mind of a psychopath (or MP?). Either way, this isn’t merely the ‘twaddle’ that educators like Charlotte Mason advise us to avoid.

    It’s clear to see what sort of effect this can have on impressionable developing minds, especially if this is the kind of intellectual, philosophical and moral diet that is encouraged and lauded, but parents are blissfully ignorant. Ask any parent about reading and they will unequivocally state that they want their children to read more, but ask them what is worth reading and you’ll just get a blank stare. “Books are good full stop” is the mantra of most parents I know. They will raise equally un-thinking offspring. It would be preferable to let your child play a mindless computer game like Moshi Monsters than to read him this book.

    And the confusing of the value of reading aloud to children and having them watch the TV (the former encouraging they develop their own imagination, the latter making them passive, unimagining receivers) is, frankly, obscene. So here the delivery is plainly considered no more important than the content, it’s audience size that is the goal. This laureate, as far as I can see, is concerned with popularity not virtue and hence with entertainment not education, but education happens anyway, it’s just that it is wrong values that are inculcated.

    Before you flame me, consider if you would have bought the book for your child if it were called Deluded Bare-Faced Liar Wins the Prize. As an exercise, ask your child what he thinks the story is about and what title he might give it. Ask him who and what he thinks is good and bad (as in morally right and wrong) in the book. If your child isn’t too corrupted already his answers could surprise you.

  • Popovski

    7 June 2011 3:30PM

    I am very pleased with the choice of JD for the Children's Laureate. She has written wonderful books familiar to children all over the world. I can certainly say that she is well respected in Croatia where I come from.
    It is wondefrul that she would like to promote music and drama as well as local libraries.
    I just hope that she will be able to organise public to fight for our local libraries. I am grateful to her that she mentioned them in her inaugural speach. We are already fighting for our three local libraries in north west London hoping that the Government will understand that such an important public service can not be sold just because there is no guts to tax the City. What we spend on libraries is next to nothing in comparison with City bonuses. Since we live in the age of celebrities I sincerely hope tha JD's rightly deserved fame and new position will help save our 'street-corner universities' (in the words of Deborah Moggach).

  • AGeekTragedy

    7 June 2011 3:44PM

    She's essentially a brand: safe and predictable (and more than a little bit cynical); you always know what you're going to get, because every one of her books is exactly the same.

    Even if you squint your eyes up to the point where "Main character gets in trouble then cleverly gets out of it" is "the same" that only accounts for a bout half the stories.

    Plus she seems to have switched to mostly writing in prose now, which given the response I've seen is not so much "safe" as "brave to mental"

  • Staff
    SheilaPulham

    7 June 2011 3:44PM

    Great appointment.
    In my view Snail and the Whale and Stick Man (which we also have beautifully translated into rhyming German) are the best. I wonder if Alex Scheffler did the translation as well as the illustrations...

    Pointless factoid: the German for The Gruffalo is 'Der Grüffelo' with an umlaut.

  • AGeekTragedy

    7 June 2011 3:49PM

    @4hd93kiw Actually, I really don't have a problem with my daughter learning the lesson that it's OK to lie to things that are trying to eat you.

  • Staff
    SheilaPulham

    7 June 2011 3:58PM

    @4hd93kiw

    Gruffalo, on the other hand, verges on Kafkaesque. Even my nephew, after watching the televised version [...] expressed the moral as: “so lying gets you what you want!” The main character in the story has no scruples, no responsibility and experiences no distinction between reality and imagination nor between truth and lie.

    Have we read the same book? Unless you're joking, and I don't think you are, isn't the Gruffalo about a clever mouse using his brain to outwit bigger, fiercer foes that want to eat him? Surely even Kafka would agree it's ok for the underdog to tell a few white lies if it saves him from annihilation.

    But if you want to get philosophical, the question of whether the Gruffalo is real or a figment of the mouse's imagination goes to the heart of existentialism within reassuring moral parameters of right and wrong...

  • LaurenceAnholt

    7 June 2011 4:20PM

    Well as someone who writes and illustrates children’s books, I know how incredibly difficult it is to create picture books like The Gruffalo. Julia Donaldson is a wonderfully talented writer who speaks directly to young children. I know her pretty well and she is a charming, modest person who is also extremely determined. A perfect choice for Children’s Laureate. Well done, Julia. God bless the Queen. God bless the Gruffalo. Laurence Anholt

  • Deportivodeej

    7 June 2011 4:42PM

    sadoldpedant - Make your mind up:

    First: -

    "if not plagiarized from, then certainly uncomfortably similar to, Where The Wild Things Are. (One could say the same about the illustrations too.)"

    Second Post: - .

    I'm not accusing Julia Donaldson of plagiarism

    As for the quotes I do know them well, and obviously the use of the terrible teeth, terrible claws is noticable but I dont think they can be cited as significant or detracting in regard to the whole. I think you must have an extremely strong affinity with the Sendak line to find it bothersome in Donaldsons effort.

    Regardless I'd think the Gruffalo as an individual book and Donaldson as an author of many very good verses for childrn deserved a little kinder than your first post.

  • Oilriggers

    7 June 2011 5:06PM

    The Gruffalo is a great book and I'm sure Julia will serve well in this role. I must admit, however, to some sympathy with @sadoldpedant. Having read TG to my kids repeatedly over the years, I was struck by that one page (terrible teeth etc) and the similar 'look' of the monsters when I eventually broke out my old childhood copy of WTWTA. That said, it doesn't add up to much as the stories are vastly different......

  • sadoldpedant

    7 June 2011 5:10PM

    Deportivodeej:

    Your comment confuses me. In both my comments I said that it wasn't plagiarized, as is clear from the parts you quoted. So my mind was made up then and still is: I think that it was probably an accidental similarity, but nevertheless one that stops me from being able to enjoy The Gruffalo.

  • elfwyn

    7 June 2011 5:24PM

    @ dan1973

    Hey, one thing though Donaldson:

    Giraffe does NOT rhyme with scarf. Not where I come from.

    Otherwise, jolly good.

    Well, it does where I come from, so nah-nah nah-nah-nah!

    Congratulations to Donaldson - great choice. I was planning anyway to have her as Children's Author of the Month in my little library in July (it's Diana Wynne Jones this month). My one regret is that my own kids are now pretty much adult and didn't know the joys of the Gruffalo - though my younger one went to a theatre performance with his then girlfriend, who was doing drama and needed to see a professional production. They were the only ones there who were neither parents nor toddlers, and they thoroughly enjoyed it!

  • elfwyn

    7 June 2011 5:25PM

    @ sadoldpedant

    Deportivodeej:

    Your comment confuses me. In both my comments I said that it wasn't plagiarized, as is clear from the parts you quoted. So my mind was made up then and still is: I think that it was probably an accidental similarity, but nevertheless one that stops me from being able to enjoy The Gruffalo.

    Sorry, mate, your loss!

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