Julia Donaldson

About the Author

Julia Donaldson has written some of the world’s best-loved children’s books, including modern classics The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, which together have sold over 18 million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 100 languages. Her other books include Room on the Broom, Stick Man, and Zog, illustrated by Axel Scheffler; The Hospital Dog, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie; and the hugely successful What the Ladybird Heard adventures, illustrated by Lydia Monks. Julia also writes fiction, including the Princess Mirror-Belle series, illustrated by Lydia Monks, as well as poems, plays, and songs—and her brilliant live shows are always in demand. She was the UK Children’s Laureate from 2011 to 2013 and has been honored with a CBE for services to literature. In 2025, Julia became Britain’s bestselling author, with lifetime sales of 48.6 million units. Julia divides her time between West Sussex, UK, and Edinburgh.

Catherine Rayner was born in Harrogate in 1982, and grew up in Boston Spa, later studying at Leeds College of Art and Edinburgh College of Art. She won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2009 for Harris Finds His Feet, and she was shortlisted for the medal in 2007, 2011, 2012, and 2015. In 2014, Norris: The Bear Who Shared was named by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 Children’s Modern Classics of the past ten years. Previous titles of Rayner’s published by Boxer Books include the award-winning Five Bears. Rayner is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.