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Webchat with JULIA DONALDSON live from Hay Festival! Saturday 28 May, 4-5pm

55 replies

RachelMumsnet · 24/05/2016 10:16

We're thrilled that acclaimed author and former Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson is our webchat guest on Saturday 28 May from 4 - 5pm live from Hay Festival.

The Gruffalo, Zog, Room on the Broom, Tiddler, The Smartest Giant in Town and What the Lady Bird Heard plus a host of other best-loved books have endeared her to countless children and their parents.

At Hay festival Julia gives a first peek of The Detective Dog, her latest character who not only has super powers of smell but can also help children learn to read.

So, if you're a fan, come and chat to Julia about her writing at 4pm on Saturday. And if you can't make the webchat itself, do post a question in advance.

Julia Donaldson is performing an all singing and dancing performance at Hay Festival on Saturday 28 May at 10am.

Webchat with JULIA DONALDSON live from Hay Festival! Saturday 28 May, 4-5pm
OP posts:
summeriscoming · 25/05/2016 16:46

My 3 year old son would like to know where Gruffalo Mum is please?

TwoLeftSocks · 25/05/2016 17:12

Do you have your own Gruffalo onesie?

catkirk · 25/05/2016 17:39

LOVE your writing, it reads like songs.

Do you ever think about the balance of male vs female characters in your books because in a lot of them it feels quite uneven to me.

HouseOfBiscuits · 25/05/2016 18:00

Which do you think about first, the characters or the plot?

BearGryllsHasaBigRope · 25/05/2016 18:20

My son has a lot of your books. We both love reading them before bedtime and I often get the stories stuck on repeat in my head.

What inspires your books? They're so imaginative and such lovely stories.

glenthebattleostrich · 25/05/2016 18:54

Can I just say thank you. Dd wanted to be a princess doctor because of princess pearl in zog.

Is there going to be another animation at Christmas. We are still watching all of them at least weekly.

ALemonyPea · 25/05/2016 18:54

We are huge Julia Donaldson fans in this house. All three of my children have enjoyed your books from a young age.

I was disappointed that you had smoking in one of your most recent books 'the Scarecrow's Wedding'. While I'm not a prude, I don't think it has a place in a child's book.

Hygellig · 25/05/2016 19:09

How much input do you have into the illustrations - are they a collaborative effort or does Axel Scheffler just take your words and go from there? For example, in Tabby McTat when the kittens go to their new homes, did you suggest what you had in mind?

PS We've really enjoyed your books and the TV adaptations.

RumAppleGinger · 25/05/2016 19:31

Big julia donaldson fans in our house.

We love going to see the theatre productions of your books at the Edinburgh fringe. They are always wonderful and often the best kids show we see. Do you get to decide which theatre companies are allowed to adapt your books?

Also just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to reply to the lette

RumAppleGinger · 25/05/2016 19:33

Also just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to reply to the letter my DS wrote you. The stickers are still untouched as they are his "special precious stickers from Julia" and no one is allowed at them!

MidnightVelvetthe5th · 25/05/2016 21:44

Ah we had most of them when ds was small, I could probably still recite Tiddler if I had to :) but my all time favourite is the Highway Rat Smile

Charell20 · 26/05/2016 07:27

Which of your books is your favourite?

My personal favourite is The Smartest Giant In Town and my daughters is The Snail and the Whale!

You are a very talented lady and it is a pleasure to read your books to my little girl.

Wheresthewine36 · 26/05/2016 09:14

A friend of mine writes lovely stories for my children which I am sure are good enough to be published - what is the best way to go about this and would she need to have them illustrated first?

IkeaTetris · 26/05/2016 09:32

Oh wow my daughter and I absolutely love your books. Her favourite is The Smartest Giant in Town (mine is Zog Grin )

Who was your favourite author growing up and what was your favourite book?

AnnoyedByAlfieBear · 26/05/2016 17:11

We love your books in our house! My three year old son would like to know how the giant can be the smartest in town when he is outside of the town on his way home for the majority of the book? but he's not in the town mummy! Grin

BretonTop · 26/05/2016 17:13

Huge fans of yours in this house. I've had to read A Squash and a Squeeze to my 2yo every night for almost three months Grin He also loves The Gruffalo now, and both he and his 5yo brother adore Room on a Broom (which we enjoyed live at our local theatre a while ago).

What was the inspiration behind The Gruffalo? And when did you realise it had become such a massive success?

r0ck · 26/05/2016 19:37

I've heard a rumour that all your books feature the Gruffalo in one way or another. Is this true?
If so, where is it in Monkey's Puzzle and Room on the Broom- it is driving me mad!

Bubbinsmakesthree · 26/05/2016 19:38

Just done three rounds of The Gruffalo this bedtime - I never get bored of it! My Gruffalo has evolved a strange hybrid Yorkshire/West Country accent. What did the Gruffalo sound like to you when you wrote the book?

Rehan62 · 26/05/2016 19:39

Thank you Julia for writing books that bring joy, imagination and a love for reading to our children. Your writing and sense of adventure is head and shoulders above the plethora of children's books today. My little girl first uttered the word "cuddles" when we were just finishing reading Monkey Puzzle when she was 11 months old!

MummyTheTramEngine · 26/05/2016 21:19

My nearly 4 yo has adored your books since he was well under 6 months, as by 6 months old he would grin at the first sentence of What the ladybird heard as I had to recite it so often while out and about to stop him crying (it was the only thing that worked as he hated being in the push chair) . We love reading your books aloud as the rhythms are so satisfying that they don't get stale on the umpteenth re telling and lend themselves so well to be memorized. Thank you for the hours and hours and hours of joy you've given us!

boilingkettle · 27/05/2016 07:40

Now on my second run of nightly reads of The Gruffalo, Gruffalo's Child, and The Snail and The Whale and loving another child's delight in the written word.
When I was allowed to slip in a different book the other day I lifted 'Where the Wild Things Are' and was struck by the 'terrible eyes' and 'terrible claws' lines. Was this book an influence when you were writing The Gruffalo?

bluecarpet · 27/05/2016 11:02

for all those Julia Donaldson fans out there, don't miss Tyrannosaurus drip - I think it's her best book but much less well known than the other.

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Amaksy · 27/05/2016 19:57

Would you ever write adult books/ novels?

bonnie1981 · 27/05/2016 21:55

Julia I wanted first of all to thank you for 'freddie and the fairy' as I am hearing impaired (as I know you are too) and it enabled me to explain my deafness to my then 5 year old daughter, so she understood it better, as well as successfully encouraging my daughter's teacher to read it to her class enabling her classmates to understand how to speak to my DD's mummy.

I wanted to ask if you would feature any more characters with disabilities?

AtSea1979 · 27/05/2016 23:17

Thank you for your wonderful books and tv adaptations, kept my DC entertained. Even at 11 and 7 years old they still love your stories, as do I. One of our favourites is a squash and a squeeze.
I'm a TA and work with a little boy who has autism and communication difficulties. He bearly says two words but I read him the smartest giant at the end of each day and one day he recited the entire book back to me, it was an amazing moment. He can now recite a number of your books. Yet barely speaks from one week to the next.

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