My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes. I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).

A writer called Julia Donaldson was also writing songs for Playdays at this time and her song A Squash and a Squeeze was commissioned to be a picture book. Axel Scheffler was recommended as an illustrator for the text and an award-winning team was created. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.

My real breakthrough was The Gruffalo, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately – he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow – but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes. Their next book, The Gruffalo, was published in March 1999 and has already become a modern classic, selling more than 2 million copies worldwide and translated into over 20 languages. Axel also continues to illustrate for other authors as well, including Ian Whybrow and David Henry Wilson. Axel Scheffler was born in 1957 in Hamburg, Germany. At school, although always good at art, he never really considered a career in illustration. But long before he began his professional life, he had won his first drawing prize for an international chocolate company – his prize was a cuddly lilac cow.When a little girl moves into a nearby cottage, the Baddies can’t wait to scare her out of her wits.

The Smeds and the Smoos animation debuted on BBC1 Christmas 2022 with voice artists including Bill Bailey (comedian and Strictly winner), Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton), Sally Hawkins (Paddington movies) and Rob Brydon (Gavin and Stacey). Ongoing Covid restrictions, reduced air and freight capacity, high volumes and winter weather conditions are all impacting transportation and local delivery across the globe.Our Book of the Month for Age 5+ is The Baddies, the brand-new picture book from superstar author-illustrator duo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The Baddies are the meanest and the nastiest ghost, witch, and troll in the land. But when The Baddies set their sights on a new little girl to scare, she soon teaches them that you don’t have to be big to be brave, and that baddies don’t always win. When a little girl moves into a nearby cottage, the Baddies can't wait to scare her out of her wits. More about Julia: “I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him). One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.