Donaldson has also written a phonic reading scheme of short stories comprising 60 books of Songbird Phonics, published by Oxford University Press. [7]

Write a story about Tiddler riding somewhere on a seahorse. Where does he go to? What happens there? I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. Find out how stories are passed on throughout history. Do you know any very old stories that are still told today? How have they changed over the years? This book tells the story of Tiddler, a little grey fish who is never on time but has always got a story as to why.What lessons might the fish have at their school? Write a diary entry from the point of view of one of the fish, giving their thoughts about their lessons at school.

A delight from start to finish. A room of children laughing hysterically, all totally mesmerised by the action.' Time Out Donaldson's parents, James (always known as Jerry) and Elizabeth, met shortly before the Second World War, which then separated them for six years. Jerry, who had studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford University, spent most of the war in a prisoner-of-war camp where his knowledge of German earned him the position of an interpreter. Elizabeth, also a good German speaker with a degree in languages, meanwhile did war work in the WRNS. Tiddler explains hat happened and not everyone believes him, but still the stoy speads until it gets to a writer, which is how the book was written. Still, the pandemic forced even Donaldson to a halt. “I haven’t really done much writing,” Donaldson said. Even so, she had managed to write some poems, a song, begun editing two new poetry anthologies, and approved drafts of illustrations for her next books, due in 2021. Tiddler is a fish with a huge imagination who blows small bubbles but tells tall tales. And his excuses for being late for school are amazing as he tells a different story every day. For example on the first day he says he was riding on a seahorse, flying with a ray and diving with a dolphin. But the long and short of it is that when Miss Skate calls the register, Johnny Dory is there, Rabbitfish is there and Redfin is there but there is no Tiddler. And so the cry goes up in class, 'TIDDLER'S LATE'.In the picture book trade, Donaldson is revered for her lyrical, rhyming verse and her ceaseless productivity. In 2020 alone, her publishers Scholastic and Macmillan have published What the Ladybird Heard at the Seaside (illustrated by Lydia Monks), The Teeny Weeny Genie (illustrated by Anna Currey), The Hospital Dog (Sara Ogilvie) and Counting Creatures (Sharon King-Chai). That’s before you count reissues and the countless activity books, cookery books and other spin-offs not written by Donaldson but based on her creations. Donaldson composed two musicals for children: King Grunt's Cake (1976) and Pirate on the Pier (1980) which she and a small cast performed both in London and Brighton. Influenced by their Bristol Street Theatre experience, Donaldson ran a Saturday-morning workshop for children in Portslade from 1974 to 1976. During these sessions a simple play would be devised, followed by making of props and costumes, rehearsal and then a performance. An hour-long feast of storytelling that thrills children and parents alike. A masterpiece.’ ( Broadway Baby) Donaldson’s impact on children’s literacy, through her books and her Songbirds reading scheme, is hard to quantify, though everyone I spoke to agreed her contribution is profound. “Julia’s changed modern picture books,” Ray, her editor, told me.

Once in Glasgow, Donaldson 'pitched' once again for song-writing commissions with the BBC. Between 1990 and 1994 she wrote for various programmes including Thinkabout Science (two series) and Playdays, composing songs for presenters and puppets (such as Lizzie and the Whybird) to sing. This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Is this book suggesting that lying and story telling is a positive or negative thing? Perhaps hat question could be posed in class to begin a discussion.

This book doesn't seem very popular in Iowa, neither among libraries nor book stores, so I had to borrow it through an interlibrary loan (read: for a very short time). And that's disappointing, because the book is spectacular! I count it as one of the best books by the author. We read it at bedtime all nine evenings we had it. Donaldson with the Singing Mermaid, and Snake from The Gruffalo. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian The Gruffalo’s origin story has been told so often that it has almost a touch of fable: how the story was inspired by a Chinese folk tale, how the original draft sat on the desk of an editor at Reid Books for months before a frustrated Donaldson eventually sent the text to Scheffler (“a very unconventional thing to do,” Donaldson said) who showed it to Macmillan, which bought it immediately.