Donaldson & Scheffler
Part of the collectionJulia Donaldson→The body of Donaldson/Scheffler picture books beyond the Gruffalo, every household will have several without realising they're a series.
- Books14
- Arcs1
- Span2016–2024
- StatusOngoing
The series
At a glance.
The thirty-year body of picture-book collaborations between Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler (excluding the Gruffalo and Zog books, which sit in their own series). Includes Room on the Broom, The Snail and the Whale, Stick Man, The Highway Rat, Monkey Puzzle, A Squash and a Squeeze, Tabby McTat, The Smartest Giant in Town, Tiddler, Superworm, Charlie Cook's Favourite Book, The Scarecrows' Wedding, The Smeds and the Smoos and the recent Jonty Gentoo. Each is a tight rhyming picture book with Scheffler's instantly-recognisable illustration. Many have been BBC-animated as Christmas specials.
The body of Donaldson/Scheffler picture books beyond the Gruffalo, every household will have several without realising they're a series.
Read in any order; these are independent picture books unified by author/illustrator pairing rather than narrative.
One arc
The shape of the series.
- ICreator arc
Donaldson & Scheffler picture books
Fourteen-and-counting Donaldson/Scheffler picture books, all independent.
These books share format (large-format rhyming picture book), tone (warm, funny, gently moralised) and visual identity (Scheffler's pen-and-watercolour world). Reading order is irrelevant.
Fit check
Right for your reader?
Where the series lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- 15
- 17
- 19
- Best fit · 3–6
- Read aloud · 2–6
- Independent · 5–7
Reluctant-reader friendliness
Very high
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Adult crossover
High
Grows with the reader
Designed to
Sensitivity envelope
Low overall, and consistent.
In the same universe
Sister series.
A small newer strand of Donaldson picture books illustrated by Catherine Rayner, The Go-Away Bird (2019), The Bowerbird (2023) and The Magic Feather (2026). The…
Open series →SeriesThe GruffaloTwo picture books, The Gruffalo (1999) and The Gruffalo's Child (2004), illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The first is one of the most-sold picture books of the la…
Open series →SeriesZogTwo picture books about Zog, a kindly but accident-prone young dragon, also illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Zog (2010) covers Zog's first year of dragon school; …
Open series →About the author