The author of The Gruffalo has revealed her “very special” relationship with an Angus school – 25 years after she dedicated her world-famous story to its pupils.
Each copy of Julia Donaldson’s book carries a dedication to Auchterhouse Primary School.
She visited the school in the 1990s, before the story was released, and read it to youngsters there.
Such was the response of the pupils, she promised to dedicate the story to them when it was published.
Donaldson, 75, returned to Auchterhouse on Wednesday to celebrate the upcoming 25th anniversary of The Gruffalo being released.
Speaking to The Courier, she said: “The main time I visited the school was in 1995 or 1996 when I had written the story but it wasn’t published.
“It was so lovely, the children immediately greeted me with a performance of one of my short school plays and took me around the nature garden.
“They showed me the stories they had written, so it is very special to be back.
“I didn’t try The Gruffalo out frequently but because they had been a really receptive school I did.”
After her original visit, pupils from the school sent Donaldson drawings of what they thought The Gruffalo looked like.
They also wrote sequels to her story A Squash and a Squeeze – where animals took revenge on the woman who had thrown them out of her house.
Author’s visit to Auchterhouse Primary School ‘stood out’
Donaldson, who lives in Sussex, added: “I’ve got them still somewhere.
“Those are the things I remember
“I did lots of author visits in those days and travelled in the Scottish Book Bus and this one stood out, definitely.
“Sometimes you would visit a school and the person at the front desk would say, ‘Who are you?’
“But this one was so wonderful in the way they greeted me with a performance of one of my plays.
“They were very special.”
Since its release, The Gruffalo has been translated into 107 languages and dialects and, along with its sequel, The Gruffalo’s Child, has sold more than 18 million copies around the world.
Donaldson treated pupils to a short talk and a performance on Wednesday and gifted each a signed 25th anniversary edition of the book.
Guests included the school’s former head teacher Sheila McCallum and class teacher Helen Smith, as well as ex-pupils from the time of her first visit.
Sheila – who was head teacher at the school, which has just 33 pupils, between 1985 and 2003 – said it was “so nostalgic” to welcome the author back to the school.
She told The Courier: “It just seems like yesterday that she came to the school and spoke to the children who were here – now they are grown up and have children of their own.
“Because it is a small school, we always welcomed visitors and we wanted our children to have lots of big experiences.
“I think she was so delighted that we had made her so welcome and the children were so enthusiastic.
“It’s very important – we might be a small school but we are all entitled to the same big life experiences.
“It is so lovely that she wanted to come back.”
Current head teacher Laura Cowper, 43, said: “It was absolutely amazing to have her at the school and for the children to have this amazing experience.
“It had a lovely community feel. We were really honoured to have Julia here.
“It’s been great and the kids have all been really excited about it.
“When I told them last term about it there was a big roar of cheer.”
Wednesday’s event was organised by the Scottish Book Trust to launch a year of events celebrating 25 years of The Gruffalo.
