The Gruffalo is a British children's picture book by author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It tells the story of a mouse taking a walk in the woods and deceiving different predators, including the Gruffalo. The Gruffalo was first published in 1999 in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Children's Books. It is about 700 words long and is written in rhyming couplets featuring repetitive verse. It is an example of a trickster story and was inspired by a Chinese folk tale called "The Fox that Borrows the Terror of a Tiger". The Gruffalo has sold over 13.5 million copies and has won several prizes for children's literature including the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize.
Julia Catherine Donaldson is an English writer and playwright, and the 2011–2013 Children's Laureate. She is best known for her popular rhyming stories for children, especially those illustrated by Axel Scheffler, which include The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and Stick Man. She originally wrote songs for children's television but has concentrated on writing books since the words of one of her songs, "A Squash and a Squeeze", were made into a children's book in 1993. Of her 184 published works, 64 are widely available in bookshops. The remaining 120 are intended for school use and include her Songbirds phonic reading scheme, which is part of the Oxford University Press's Oxford Reading Tree.
Winifred Shirley Hughes was an English author and illustrator. She wrote more than fifty books, which have sold more than 11.5 million copies, and illustrated more than two hundred.
The Gruffalo's Child is a British children's picture book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It is the bestselling sequel to The Gruffalo and won the 2005 National Book Awards Children's Book of the Year. The book has been adapted into theatrical productions since 2005 and was adapted into the 2011 animated film The Gruffalo's Child.
The Blue Peter Book Awards were a set of literary awards for children's books conferred by the BBC television programme Blue Peter. They were inaugurated in 2000 for books published in 1999 and 2000. The awards were managed by reading charity, BookTrust, from 2006 until the final award in 2022. From 2013 until the final award, there were two award categories: Best Story and Best Book with Facts.
George Worsley Adamson was a book illustrator, writer, and cartoonist, who held American and British dual citizenship from 1931.
Monkey Puzzle, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, is an illustrated children's story book, published in 2000 by Alison Green Books. Donaldson dedicated the book to her cousin's children, Tom, Billy, Emma and Katie.
Brian Lawrence Wildsmith was a British painter and children's book illustrator. He won the 1962 Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration, for the wordless alphabet book ABC. In all his books, the illustrations are always as important as the text.
The Gruffalo is a 2009 animated fantasy short television film based on the 1999 picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.
The Gruffalo's Child is a 2011 animated fantasy short television film based on the 2004 picture book of the same name written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. A sequel to The Gruffalo, the film was shown on Christmas Day 2011 in the United Kingdom, exactly two years after the debut of the first film.
Magic Light Pictures Limited is a 2003 English independent film and television London-based production company. The company was founded by producers Martin Pope and Michael Rose.
Nosy Crow is an independent children's publisher, based in London. The company was founded in 2010 by Kate Wilson, formerly MD of Macmillan Children’s Books and Group MD of Scholastic UK Ltd, Adrian Soar, formerly Book Publishing CEO of Macmillan Publishers, and Camilla Reid, formerly Editorial Director of Campbell Books. In 2020, the company was named Independent Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards. As of 2021, Nosy Crow is the UK's 11th largest children's publisher, according to Nielsen BookScan data.
Room on the Broom is a 2012 short stop motion computer animated television film based on the picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The film was nominated for the Best Animated Short Film at the 2014 Academy Awards. It also won the British Academy Children's Award for Animation in 2013.
The Snail and the Whale is a 2003 children's picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It won the 2004 Early Years award for the best pre-school book, the 2005 Blue Peter award for Best Book to Read Aloud, and the 2007 Giverny award for Best Science Picture Book. The Snail and the Whale has also been adapted into an unabridged audiobook, a stage play and translated into British Sign Language. In 2019, a short film based on the book was released.
Stick Man, written by former Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, is a children's story about an anthropomorphic wooden stick who becomes separated from his family home and his Odyssey-like adventure to return there. He is eventually reunited with his family in the "family tree" as a result of his interaction with Father Christmas. It takes place in England.
Zog is a 2010 children's picture book by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, about a young accident-prone dragon, named Zog, who wants to be the best student in dragon school.
The Snail and the Whale is a 2019 British-South African short computer-animated TV film, directed by Max Lang and Daniel Snaddon, and produced by Michael Rose and Martin Pope of Magic Light Pictures, in association with Triggerfish Animation Studios where the film was animated.
Pip and Posy is a series of British children's picture books written by Axel Scheffler, known for his work on the Gruffalo series with author Julia Donaldson. The series follows the adventures of two animal friends, Pip the rabbit and Posy the mouse, as they navigate the ups and downs of their everyday lives.
The Smeds and The Smoos is a 2022 British animated short film directed by Samantha Cutler and Daniel Snaddon. The film is the screen adaptation produced by Magic Light Pictures of the homonymous children's book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The story follows two warring clans of aliens on their journey from prejudice and intolerance to kindness and friendship.
