How Gruffalo writer Julia thought up famous creation
CHARACTER WAS INITIALLY GOING TO BE A TIGER
IN this bleak year of closures, cancellations and enforced separation from friends and loved ones, we all badly need some entertainment.
Staffordshire Libraries is offering an online session with Julia Donaldson, author of classic children’s book The Gruffalo, as part of its series of online Christmas activities.
Julia will be running her Sing Along with Julia Donaldson sessions, where she sings songs and reads stories based on some of her most famous books, such as The Gruffalo’s Child and Room on the Broom for both children and adults to enjoy.
But how did she come up with the Gruffalo? She was asked this on her website and this is how she answered: “The book was going to be about a tiger but I couldn’t get anything to rhyme with “tiger”.
“Then I thought up the lines: “Silly old Fox, doesn’t he know/There’s no such thing as a _________________ ” and somehow the word “gruffalo” came to mind to fill the gap. The gruffalo looks the way he does because various things that just happened to rhyme (like toes and nose, and black and back).”
Julia says on her website it can take months or years for an idea to grow in her head and for her to plan a book.
She goes on: “For The Gruffalo the ideas and planning stage lasted a year (obviously I was doing other things too!) and the actual writing took about two weeks.”
Julia also reveals that she finds the writing of her books “quite hard work”, adding: “I often get stuck, or feel that I’m plodding along in an uninspired way. But when I realise that a story is working after all it’s a very exciting feeling – and I love doing all the polishing touches at the end (or “tweaking” as publishers call it).
“It’s lovely when the first rough illustrations arrive arri e and I see how ho my m charchar acters are going to look.”
She has written 210 books and, asked what her own personal favourite by another author was replied: “One of my favourites is Watership Down by Richard Adams, an exciting story about rabbits.”
Also on the activities line-up with Julia will be fellow former Children’s Laureate and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt author Michael Rosen.
He will be reading some of his own work as well as a wide range of poetry for children as part of his Poems and Stories With Michael Rosen series.
People can access the pre-recorded sessions via the library service’s Facebook page. In addition to the sessions from the famous children’s authors, Staffordshire County Council is also running a daily Advent calendar of activities running through this month.
A spokesperson said: “We have daily Advent calendar videos which open to reveal stories, book reviews, cooking tips, carol singing and much more. Each weekend we have online quizzes and jigsaw puzzles.
“As this year Christmas is going to be so different, we will be showing nostalgic videos and short films from Christmases past showing how we celebrated during the decades of the 20th century.
“We will also be sharing wartime Christmas videos that show how people faced adversity at Christmas before and how simple doesn’t have to be bad.”