Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

Julia Donaldson is the writer and playwright who created the rhyming stories of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child. Brought to life visually by illustrator Axel Scheffler, the original tale tells the story of a calculating mouse who makes up a fearsome creature to avoid being eaten!

The story of The Gruffalo was first inspired by a Chinese folk tale, of a girl who escapes being eaten by a tiger by claiming to be the fearsome Queen of the Jungle.

Julia Donaldson CBE was born in London in 1948, and was the Children’s Laureate between 2011–2013. Alongside The Gruffalo, which was first published in 1999, she has created a host of well-loved rhyming tales, including Stick Man, Zog and Monkey Puzzle.

The sequel to The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child was published in 2004 and features an only child Gruffalo with a wooden stick doll in addition to all the original characters, and can be seen in our illustrated Music Box Card & Advent Calendar.

Illustrator Axel Scheffler lives in London, and is originally from Germany. Along with collaborating on several stories with Julia Donaldson, he has illustrated many books for a range of authors with his instantly recognisable style.