AlthoughJulia Donaldsonis best known for her work with Axel Scheffler, her books made with other illustrators yield their own delights. Illustrated by Rebecca Cobb, 2012’s The Paper Dolls has an irresistible sense of childlike wonder, following a string of cut-out dolls as they explore a house while trying to avoid scissors.
Key lineThey were Ticky and Tacky and Jackie the Backie and Jim with two noses and Jo with the bow.
The festive BBC adaptations of Donaldson’s work are so beloved that it’s easy to overlook how some stories work much better as films than others. Tabby McTat – in which a cat becomes separated from his busker friend – is one of the best. There’s a real sense of melancholy to some of the sequences, before the happy ending – exactly what you want at Christmas.
Key lineThe sun went down and the sky grew black. The stars came out, but he didn’t come back.
Tiddler is a small fish with a big imagination, always coming up with wild excuses for his behaviour. But is there any merit to them? This is Donaldson and Scheffler in pure entertainment mode, and – at least anecdotally – one of the stories that children respond best to.
Key line“Sorry I’m late, Miss. I set off really early but on the way to school I was captured by a squid.”
Donaldson has written hundreds of books in her career, but none felt quite as timely as 2019’s The Smeds and the Smoos. A Romeo and Juliet story about two aliens whose families hate each other, it’s hard to see this as anything other than Donaldson’s Brexit book. Scheffler’s dedication – “To all the children of Europe” – makes the link even more explicit.
Typical line“Never, never marry a Smed. My dearest child, are you off your head?”
Nick Sharratt provides the illustrations for this sweetly simple book for very young readers. Not a great deal happens here – some animals have a dinner party and none of them behaves very well – but the whole thing is perfectly executed.
Key line“Don’t just grab it,” says angryRabbit. “I’ll lickthe bowl,” saysfurry Mole.
Donaldson is at her best when she leans into gothic fairytale darkness. Room on the Broom, where a kind witch and her animal hitchhikers fend off a dragon, is a perfect example of this. Completists might like to know that the book has also been adapted into a Chessington World of Adventures attraction that is about 5% too scary for its intended audience.
Key line“I am a dragon, as mean as can be,and I’m planning to have WITCH AND CHIPS for my tea!”
Although she’s best known for her picture books, Donaldson has also written a number of early years stories, designed to be the first thing that children read alone. Of these, Princess Mirror-Belle – about a girl’s reflection that comes to life and causes havoc – is the most irresistible. Perfect for kids who are just about ready to finally outgrow The Gruffalo.
Key lineBy this stage they had reached the escalator. Mirror-Belle hopped on to it. “This is fun,” she said. “Does it go down to the dungeons?” “No,” said Ellen, riding down beside her. “It goes down to the food department.”
Donaldson and Scheffler’s most recent book may cover old ground (like Stick Man, it’s a journey story, only this time about a penguin who escapes from the zoo), but it’s told with flair and has a pristine rhyming scheme. Plus, who doesn’t like penguins?
Key lineHis aunts said,“Grow up!”,“Eat your fish!” and“Talk sense!”, but Jonty had noticed a gap in the fence.
A bit of an outlier for a Donaldson/Scheffler book, in that it only intermittently rhymes. Nevertheless, the message of the story – that it’s better to be kind than nicely dressed – is as perfectly pitched as anything Donaldson has ever written.
Key line“Cheer up!” said George, and he took off one of his shiny shoes.“It was giving me blisters anyway.”
Donaldson’s first book was initially a lilting reggae song, performed by Floella Benjamin and Derek Griffiths on the children’s TV showPlay Schoolin the 1970s. But the story – about a woman who learns to live within her means after filling her house with farm animals – works far better as a book, especially when paired with Scheffler’s beautifully manic illustrations.
Key lineThe little old lady cried “Stop, I implore! It was titchy for three and it’s teeny for four.”
Lydia Monks provides vivid illustrations to this story, about a ladybird who uses her size and silence to thwart a farmyard robbery. Structurally, What the Ladybird Heard is a gem, first carefully laying out the robbers’ plan (twice, with a blueprint) only to hilariously subvert it at the climax.
Key lineThe duck on the pond said“MOO MOO MOO!”“Two more steps to go!” said Hugh.
Donaldson was a songwriter before she became an author, and this is the secret to her success – you don’t need to read many of her books to see that they often have choruses. The chorus of The Highway Rat (a story about a greedy rat who learns the error of his ways) is the best of the lot. It’s a tricky metre for parents to enter into blind, but it absolutely rewards the effort.
Key line“I am theRat of the highway – the highway – the highway – Yes, I am theRat of the highway, and I fancy a duck for tea!”
One of her very best. This is in part down to Donaldson’s Lear-style rhyme scheme, but mainly because it is completely impossible to separate the text from the images. The story constantly draws the reader’s attention to the illustrations (“This is a rock”, “This is the sea”, “This is the teacher”) and, given the extremes of scale that Scheffler has to work with, it ranks as some of his best work. Quite frankly, the whole thing reads like a love letter between them.
Key lineThese are the waves that arched and crashed, that foamed and frolicked and sprayed and splashed.
An all-time classic. Donaldson’s third book was based on the Chinese folktale The Fox that Borrows the Terror of a Tiger, and revolves around a blazingly clever structure. First, a mouse fends off advances from three hungry animals by describing an invented terrifying monster to them. Then, when he realises that the monster is real, he retraces his steps and outwits everyone in the process. But you knew that, of course, because you’ve read it a million times.
Key line“Oh help! Oh no! It’s a Gruffalo!”
Ostensibly a sequel to The Gruffalo’s Child (which features a toy stick man), this is just about as epic as picture books get. A stick loses his family, and has to make an Odyssean journey home. There are real stakes here; the moment when Stick Man awaits what seems like certain death would be impressive in any story, but the fact that this is a book for toddlers makes it doubly so.
Key lineStick Lady’s lonely. The children are sad. It won’t feel like Christmas without their Stick Dad.