ICONIC CHILDREN'S AUTHOR JULIA DONALDSON ON THE POWER OF STORIES AND INSPIRING READERS YOUNG AND OLD

As one of the UK’s most famous children’s authors, Julia Donaldson is used to being peppered with questions by her young fans.

- LAURA BENJAMIN

But, she tells hello! in an exclusive interview, some of the topics can be very unexpected.

“What I really like about doing events for children is they sometimes ask such quirky questions,” she says. “They’d often say things like: ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ or: ‘How did you get to be famous?’ But recently, they have been saying: ‘Why have you got those funny shoes on?’ and someone once said to me: ‘How much longer is this going to go on for because we usually watch videos?’”

Of course, there are also compliments for her rhyming tales, of which there are more than 200, including The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom, both of which have been adapted for TV.

“One of the nicest things is when a parent says their child knows one of my stories off by heart and can recite it all. I was that child who used to learn poems and I know how enjoyable that is.”

A former Children’s Laureate, Julia wants to spread that joy to more youngsters. She has become patron of the Stratford Literary Festival’s charitable outreach work, campaigning to improve school l ibraries and encouraging imprisoned parents to write bedtime stories for their children.