The writer Julia Donaldson CBE and illustrator Axel Scheffler, the internationally celebrated creators of The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and many other modern children’s classics, have each received the Bodley Medal, the Bodleian Libraries’ highest accolade, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the ceremony took place at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre during the Oxford Literary Festival.
For more than three decades, Donaldson and Scheffler’s creative partnership has shaped contemporary children’s books, producing stories that have captivated millions of young readers around the world. Their best-known work, The Gruffalo (1999), and its sequel, The Gruffalo’s Child (2004), have been translated into more than 115 languages and dialects and have sold millions of copies worldwide, encouraging reading and the love of books.
The awards coincide with an exciting moment in the pair’s long-running collaboration. In September 2026, Donaldson and Scheffler will publish Gruffalo Granny, the first new book in the main Gruffalo series for over twenty years.
Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian and the Helen Hamlyn Director of the University Libraries, said: “Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have produced some of the most beloved books for children in modern times, bringing delight to millions of young people (and their parents), encouraging them to read and to love books. They have both been champions of this vital genre of literature, and we are delighted to present them each with medals during the National Year of Reading”.
