Acclaimed children's author Julia Donaldson is the subject of a new documentary, The Gruffalo & Me: The Remarkable Julia Donaldson.
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The documentary is set to provide an insight into the beloved author's world of characters, but how much do you know about the woman herself? Find out more about Julia Donaldson's career and amazing wealth here...
Julia Donaldson was born in Hampstead and is most well known for her bestselling children's book, The Gruffalo which was adapted into an animated film in 2009. First published in 1999, the book has now sold over 5 million copies worldwide and been translated into 81 languages. So as you could imagine, the author has amassed some pretty impressive royalties along the way.
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According to Net Worth List, the author's net worth now stands at £85million. Having written more than 160 books across her 20-year career, we're hardly surprised!
Aside from The Gruffalo, the author also penned bestsellers The Stick Man, The Highway Rat and The Snail and the Whale - all of which have been adapted into short animated children's films. Zog and the Flying Doctors, which is set to air on BBC One on Christmas Day, will be the eighth adaptation of a Julia Donaldson title.
Zog and the Flying Doctors will air on BBC One on Christmas Day
As such, Nielson reports that the former Children's Laureate has amassed lifetime sales of £150.2m in the UK, making her the third-bestselling children's writer, behind JK Rowling and David Walliams. In 2019 alone she reportedly earned £14m
In 2017 she joined the Sunday Times Rich List along with fellow children's authors Jacqueline Wilson and Adam Hargreaves.
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The author has also been recognised for her work with numerous awards including the Blue Peter Best Book to Read Aloud Award, the Scottish Children's Book Awards and the Smarties Prize. She was named Children's Laureate 2011-13 and in 2019 was honoured with a CBE for Services to Literature.
Before she amassed her vast fortune, Julia spent much of her early adulthood busking on the streets of Bristol, Paris and San Francisco.
The author was awarded a CBE in 2019
Speaking to The Guardian, Julia explained how busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, and ultimately helped get where she is today. The author said: "I started busking when I was a student in Paris to make some money and the songwriting grew out of that. Malcolm [her husband] and I used to get lots of gigs. We would be asked to sing after supper at a dentist's dinner and I'd write a song about teeth or we'd perform at the Covent Garden hat fair and I'd write a song about hats."
"It was tremendously good training for the rhyming stories I write now," she added.
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