Donaldson, Julia
Julia Donaldson was born in London in the late 40s. Her parents met shortly before World War II, but were separated for 6 years, then, however, they were happily reunited. Julia's father studied social sciences at Oxford, and her mother received a philological education. An intelligent and creative atmosphere reigned in the house, Julia's parents were great music lovers, her mother sang in the choir, her father played the cello, and both of them were fluent in foreign languages. So Julia studied music, playing the piano, and in her teens she already mastered French, German and Italian.
Julia received her higher education at the University of Bristol, where she studied drama and acting. Then she met her future husband Malcolm, with whom they live to this day and have three adult children. Malcolm is a pediatrician, Julia also worked a lot with children - in schools, hospitals, creative studios. The first compositions of the future famous writer were children's songs, which she performed, accompanying herself on the guitar and piano.
One day in the 90s - Julia was already about 45 years old - she was offered to publish her song “A Squash and a Squeeze” as a separate picture book. The book was illustrated by German artist Axel Scheffler. Thus was born the now famous creative tandem, which continues to work successfully today.
