She published her first book in her 40s and became the biggest selling author of the past decade in any genre – The Gruffalo alone has sold 13m copies. How did this former busker make it so big?The room where the children’s author Julia Donaldson writes – the heart of her vast picture book empire – is down a winding staircase, in the cellar of her grand white house in Steyning, West Sussex. Her desk looks out on the street at knee height. “I’m thinking of writing a book about legs,” Donaldson said, as she showed me around the house this summer. Children from the nearby school often wave in at her as they pass. Donaldson is well known in Steyning, due to her frequent signings at the local bookshop. She and her husband, Malcolm, a retired paediatrician, recently bought the local post office to save it from closure. But elsewhere she can walk the pavement without being recognised. “I got a letter the other day for Jacqueline Wilson,” Donaldson told me. “It said: ‘You’re my favourite author!’”If you are not someone who spends much time with young children, you may only be dimly aware of Donaldson’s work – although you will probably be familiar with her most famous creation, the Gruffalo. If you have children, however, you will know her as a cultural juggernaut whose influence among children is perhaps only surpassed by the works of Disney and CBeebies. Donaldson, who is 72, has written more than 210 books: chiefly picture books, but also poetry, plays, a 60-part phonics... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2020-12-17 06:00:31 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#local bookshop
#recently bought
#jacqueline wilson
#favourite author
#famous creation
#ladybird heard
#picture book
Superhero movies are a dime a dozen, but the comic book podcast is about to hit its stride. We’ve had a nice, long run of comic book movies and television shows. One after the other, with big actors and even bigger action sequences. Before the end of the year we’ll get Loki Season 2, The... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-09-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#superhero movies
#television shows
#comic books
#long run
#comic book
Mystery and manga go together like pumpkin spice and warm boba tea (you can thank me later). Here are some new mystery manga you can't miss. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-19 10:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#pumpkin spice
#manga
Looking for a work of science fiction that will make you really think? Welcome to these philosophical sci-fi books! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-15 10:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#science fiction
You didn't actually believe all those founder's myths about tech billionaires like Bezos, Jobs and Musk pulling themselves up by their bootstraps from some suburban American garage, did you? In reality, our corporate kings have been running the same playbook since the 18th century when... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-09-11 20:50:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#company insists
#independent contractors
#endemic culture
#automating cloth-making
#founders aim
#artificial intelligence
You didn't actually believe all those founder's myths about tech billionaires like Bezos, Jobs and Musk pulling themselves up by their bootstraps from some suburban American garage, did you? In reality, our corporate kings have been running the same playbook since the 18th century when... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-09-10 14:30:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#company insists
#independent contractors
#endemic culture
#automating cloth-making
#founders aim
#artificial intelligence
In Alissa Hattman’s debut novel Sift, the world, at first, appears hostile to life, nearly uninhabitable. Skies darken with toxins and smoke. Food, especially produce, is scarce. Drinking water is limited, a result of rivers and other natural bodies that have been poisoned. Fires rage and a... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-09-05 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#electric literature
#debut novel
Aconyte Books, the U.K.–based fiction imprint of games group Asmodee Entertainment, will adapt game settings from the 'Call of Cthulhu' tabletop RPG into novel series set in Regency and Victorian England. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#series set
#victorian england
#fiction imprint
Sex, Time, and Memory: Annie Ernaux’s Young Man, by Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee Book Reviews [email protected] Mon, 08/21/2023 - 15:04 The Young Man—forthcoming from Seven Stories in September 2023—is Annie Ernaux’s first novel in English... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-08-21 20:04:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#formative years
#shaky ground
#young man
#first novel
'Extraordinary Birder' host Christian Cooper brings his memoir 'Better Living Through Birding: Notes From a Black Man in the Natural World' to the L.A. Times Book Club. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-16 20:59:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#extraordinary birder
#black man
#natural world
#memoir
#times book
Jacqueline Wilson is latest writer to wade into debate over changing dated and offensive languageThe publishing industry has been mired in debate in recent years about editing older books to remove content that could be deemed offensive.Even the prime minister became involved in February after... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-14 13:30:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#jacqueline wilson
#latest writer
#deemed offensive
#prime minister
#roald dahl
#puffin
#publishing industry
Edinburgh Evening News and Yorkshire Evening Post owner is ‘possible participant’ in sale, despite strike ballot and staff exodusA local newspaper publisher facing a staff exodus and a strike ballot over low pay has announced it is considering a bid for the Daily Telegraph.National World, which... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-10 12:57:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#daily telegraph
#low pay
#yorkshire post
#stock market
Damian Barr’s Literary Salon tempts the world’s best writers to read exclusively from their latest greatest works and share their own personal stories. Star guests include Jojo Moyes, John Waters, Yaa Gyasi, Mary Beard, Diana Athill and Louis de Bernières—all in front of a live audience at... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-09 08:58:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#damian barr
#personal stories
#john waters
#yaa gyasi
#mary beard
#diana athill
#london home
#memoir
Indigenous-Minority Poets from China: 15 Recordings for International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, by Ming Di Audio Poetry [email protected] Tue, 08/08/2023 - 14:48 Photo by Nicolas Winkler / Flickr To celebrate the International Day of... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-08-08 19:48:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#big cities
#cultural heritage
#anthology
From classics to modern marvels to young adult adventures, here are the bestselling science fiction books of all time. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-08 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#science fiction
Share that link right now or ruin your reading life! Do it, do it now! Or, a brief history of chain letters. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-07 10:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#reading life
#good book
If your fingers are itching to put together a puzzle and you're delighted by bookish things, get into these bookish jigsaw puzzles.- Jamie Canaves Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-07 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bookish things
#audiobook
The former BBC war reporter, now special correspondent, on the terror of PTSD, his tips for living with it day to day, and the people and poets he admiresDuring a career spanning more than 30 years, BBC special correspondent Fergal Keane has covered brutal conflicts in South Africa, Rwanda and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-06 08:30:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#career spanning
#south africa
#mental health
#stepped back
#newly published
#inherited trauma
#irish childhood
#psychiatric hospital
#memoir
This week, the biggest event in tech took place in Seoul with Samsung's Unpacked showcase. Among other announcements, the company officially unveiled its latest foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold 5. It's not even available yet, but Amazon is offering a $200 gift card if you pre-order from... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-28 18:33:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#6ghz band
#record low
#buying advice
#$100 savings
#follow @engadgetdeals
#kindle
As a previously undocumented person, all I've wanted was to be considered the same as everyone else. Defined by my merit, not by the place of my birth. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-20 20:55:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ve wanted
#pulitzer prize
Luis Alberto Urrea, author of 'Good Night, Irene,' joins L.A. Times Book Club readers live on July 19. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-19 20:38:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#good night
#times book
#bestselling author