Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson reveals why tale is dedicated to Angus primary school

Julia Donaldson, 73, author of famous children's book, The Gruffalo.
Julia Donaldson, 73, author of famous children's book, The Gruffalo.

The author of beloved children’s book The Gruffalo – which has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide – has revealed why she dedicated it to Auchterhouse Primary School in Angus.

Julia Donaldson, who published the tale in 1999, spoke to The Courier while visiting Broughty Ferry for a sold-out book signing event at The Bookhouse on Sunday.

The 73-year-old from England says she was inspired to dedicate the Gruffalo to the tiny primary school after a “memorable visit” during a book tour more than 20 years ago.

Sam Dunn, three, shows the Gruffalo his toy Gruffalo outside The Bookhouse on Gray Street, Broughty Ferry.
Sam Dunn, three, shows the Gruffalo his toy Gruffalo outside The Bookhouse on Gray Street, Broughty Ferry.

She said: “When I was on the Scottish book bus I visited that school and they gave me such a lovely warm welcome.

“I had written the Gruffalo so I recited it to them, and they then sent me drawings of what they thought the Gruffalo should look like.

“I said to them that if I ever did get it published then I would dedicate it to them.

“They were such a lovely little school – it was a very memorable visit.”

The Gruffalo made an appearance - to the delight of everyone.
The Gruffalo made an appearance – to the delight of everyone.

Julia – who has written more than 200 books – recalls that some pupils even wrote “really, really good sequels” to some of her other stories.

However, she is keen to set the record straight when it comes to exactly who wrote The Gruffalo – her most famous work.

She said: “It’s slightly annoying because somehow a rumour has got round that they helped me write it, which is not true at all.”

Julia, who resides in Sussex, is a regular visitor to Broughty Ferry, where her son Jerry lives with his wife Theresa, from Monifieth, and their six children.

The couple met at Dundee University in the early 2000s.

Pictures with the Gruffalo for the family album.

And it was during one visit two years ago that Julia first stumbled upon The Bookhouse on Gray Street, which was still new to the area.

Shop manager Peter Rome says the children’s author – whose personal wealth is estimated at more than £30m – “popped in” one day and started signing copies of her books.

It was a fortuitous meeting that would result in the sold-out book signing event that more than 70 families enjoyed at the independent store over the weekend.

Julia said: “I discovered this book shop during the pandemic, they hadn’t been open for very long.

“We agreed that next time I was up that we would fit in a book signing.”

Calvin, 18 months, and his mum, Megan Hainey, with the Gruffalo.
Calvin, 18 months, and his mum, Megan Hainey, with the Gruffalo.

The event saw hundreds of children greeted by live music and a dress-up Gruffalo at the door.

It comes ahead of the release of Julia’s newest book – Rock-a-Bye Rumpus – which features the voices of her grandchildren and could soon see millions of kids across the world singing her lullabies with a Dundee twang.

She said: “Two of our grandchildren from Broughty Ferry and two of our grandchildren from England are on the (accompanying) CD reciting some of the rhythms and songs in the book.

“It is just about to come out – but The Bookhouse has advance copies of it.”

In the meantime, Julia and her husband Malcolm are enjoying a few days in Broughty Ferry following a month-long stint in Edinburgh with her show The Gruffalo, the Giant and the Mermaid, which is based on a selection of her books.

The pair have enjoyed some of Dundee’s most-loved tourist attractions, including the Monikie and Camperdown country parks.