Julia Donaldson started her career writing songs for children's television. In 1993, one of her songs was made into a book, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE. Since then she has written over forty books and plays for children and teenagers, including the rhyming story THE GRUFFALO which won three major British book awards (the Smarties Prize, the Blue Peter award for "The Best Book to Read Aloud" and the Experian "Big Three" award) and remains the UK's best-selling picture book.