When you interview Julia Donaldson, it feels wrong to be in a café or an office. It has to be among the trees that feature in so many of her stories. With her husband Malcolm and illustrator Victoria Sandøy, we explored a favourite woodland, with the welcome distraction of mushroom foraging as we walked.
It was here, during the various Covid lockdowns, that Julia and Malcolm made videos of scenes from her most famous work, The Gruffalo. And they didn’t disappoint on this occasion, with Malcolm and Julia spontaneously transforming into Owl and Mouse respectively in a hilarious little sketch that you can hear on the accompanying podcast (see page 65). Julia has a warm, musical voice and it’s easy to understand how stories and verse flow through her daily life.
