Interview – best-selling children's author Julia Donaldson

YOU’VE RECENTLY PUBLISHED AN ANTHOLOGY OF ACTION RHYMES FOR BABIES AND VERY YOUNG CHILDREN, ROCK-A-BYE RUMPUS, ILLUSTRATED BY SéBASTIEN BRAUN, GATHERED FROM YOUR OWN CHILDHOOD THROUGH TO BECOMING A GRANDMOTHER. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT POETRY AND SHARING SONGS AND ACTION RHYMES ARE SO IMPORTANT IN THE EARLY YEARS?

I thought it would be nice to do a collection concentrating on action rhymes and poems that children can join in with, partly because I think there are so many traditional rhymes that are in danger of being forgotten.

The book is split into different sections. It starts with just rocking the baby, then there is jiggling and then pointing to the face and counting of fingers and toes. It goes on to another section with walking rhymes where the child can toddle about. There are suggestions of activities that people can do in nurseries and playgrounds. The poems also reflect the child’s day, rounding off with supper time and bath time.

WHY DO YOU FEEL TRADITIONAL RHYMES ARE NOT SHARED AS MUCH?

I haven’t included many nursery rhymes in the book because, to be fair, some are quite outdated. A lot of them have rather weird things about parlours and people falling down the stairs or breaking their heads. I actually prefer French nursery rhymes.

When I was little there was Listen With Mother that played on the radio, and it was lovely. It had a lovely signature tune that I loved to listen to and some very posh people would sing in a very operatic way. Programmes [which share songs, stories and rhymes] are not as universal now.

YOUR BOOKS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR RHYMING AND REFRAINS – ‘DOESN’T HE KNOW, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A GRUFFALO?’ – USED WHILE TELLING THE STORY. WHY DO YOU WRITE IN THIS WAY?

I’m a songwriter and I’ve always liked rhyming poetry. I was given a book called The Book of a Thousand Poemsby my father when I was five, which I’ve still got. My first book, A Squash and a Squeeze [published in 1993], was taken from a song I wrote and it has gone from there.

The nice thing about Rock-a-bye Rumpusis that it has a CD – which includes four of our grandchildren; Malcolm [Julia Donaldson’s husband] and I are on there as well – which gives people an idea of how they are meant to sound.

RESEARCH SHOWS THAT INTERACTIVE AND ACTIVE STORY SHARING IS KEY TO DEVELOPING A LOVE OF BOOKS AND READING. HOW DO YOU WANT TO HEAR YOUR BOOKS SHARED WITH CHILDREN?

Most teachers and practitioners are so imaginative and inventive, and I get countless letters showing me how they have made Stick Man figures out of twigs, or done a display. There is a lot that can be done around the books, and there are lots of suggestions on my website.

Personally, when it comes to actually reading a story to children, I believe it is best to be quite straightforward and to keep the momentum going in the first instance so the story is flowing. If you read it again, then you can stop and talk about certain areas.

YOU MENTIONED YOUR GRANDCHILDREN. WHEN YOU’RE PICKING A BOOK TO READ TO THEM, WHAT IMPORTANT ELEMENTS DO YOU LOOK FOR? WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY?

You have to think about the child youare reading to because children are as different from each other as grown-ups are. So, if a child is into mermaids and unicorns then that is what you should go for. But then it boils down to the language, to be able to read a story without having to keep explaining everything. It is good to challenge children with new words – and they are experts at acquiring language – but I would try and choose a story that is appropriate to the age of the child. The storyline is the most important thing, especially the ending. You want it to be satisfying and not too straightforward so there can be a little twist at the end – the character does get what they wanted but maybe not quite in the way that you thought.

Then there are the pictures, obviously. It has been a real eye-opener with my grandchildren because I am ashamed to say that I do not always notice everything in the pictures and they do. The adult is concentrating on the words, but when the child can’t read, they are just looking at all the detail in the pictures.

In my first book with Lydia Monks, Sharing a Shell, I hadn’t even noticed that the next character can just be slightly seen in the picture. So it starts off with a hermit crab and you can actually see the sea anemone approaching, then you turn the page and she is on the page. That device continues throughout the book. In one of the Axel [Scheffler] books, Tabby McTat, my granddaughter spotted the thief in the crowds and I’d not noticed that.

It is good to have detailed pictures because, if the child is going to have the book read to them again and again, it is nice for them to have different things to spot.

I’m just so pleased that Colours, Colours Everywhere [her new book illustrated by Sharon King-Chai] brings in all the colours but that it also tells a proper story that has a circular feel, like many good books have, because there are paints at the start and the end, which is a nice feature.

Julia Donaldson spoke to Annette Rawstrone. Check out next month’s Nursery World (November) to read more about developing a love of reading from a young age, the importance of children seeing themselves in books, collaborating with different illustrators, and her opinions on teaching phonics to young children.

• Further information: www.juliadonaldson.co.uk