Julia (Donaldson) and Axel (Scheffler) - Thirty Years of Favourite Stories - Free Exhibition From 22 July 2023 @ The Lowry (Manchester)

Spotted this whilst browsing and thought it was a rather fab free day out for any families with Julia Donaldson / Axel Scheffler fans.

This summer, The Lowry in collaboration with publishers Macmillan Children’s Books and Scholastic, are hosting a new exhibition celebrating the acclaimed partnership between Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, who have created some of the world’s best-loved, and best-selling children’s books, including The Gruffalo, Zog, Room on the Broom, The Smeds and the Smoos, and most recently, The Baddies.

From Saturday 22nd July, this free family-friendly exhibition will feature several of Julia Donaldson’s personal writing notebooks; containing the very first ideas and creative thinking behind her picture book stories. These will be shown alongside Axel Scheffler’s artwork, showing the process of his illustrations from sketches and works in progress, to full page final illustrations that readers are familiar with seeing in the finished books.

Throughout the exhibition there will be lots of fun opportunities for children to be creative themselves as they are guided to write their own stories, draw pictures, dress up, and play fun games inspired by the books.

Quotes From Julia and Axel
Julia Donaldson says: “I am delighted that we are working in partnership with The Lowry on this exhibition and that they are celebrating 30 years of Axel and me working together. It is exciting to be able to share some ‘behind the scenes’ secrets with our young readers and to show what happens before a finished book is in their hands. I hope that it will help them to feel creative and to start writing and illustrating their own stories, so that we have new picture-book creators in the future.”

Axel Scheffler says: “I find it hard to believe that it is 30 years since Julia Donaldson and I did our first picture book together with A Squash and a Squeeze. So much has happened since then and many children have now enjoyed our stories over the years. I am very pleased that The Lowry is hosting this special celebratory exhibition and that it will give families the chance to discover more about my illustrations and Julia’s writing.”

Julia Donaldson is the official No.1 bestselling author of 2022, across all books, and Axel Scheffler is the official No.1 bestselling illustrator of 2022 and no story-time is complete without Julia’s perfect read-aloud rhyme and Axel’s unique artwork. Their most recently published book, The Baddies, was the UK’s No.1 Bestselling Picture Book of 2022.

Julia Donaldson is the author of some of the world’ s best-loved children’s books, including the modern classic The Gruffalo, which has sold over 17 million copies worldwide. She also writes fiction, as well as poems, plays and songs – and her brilliant live shows are always in
demand. Julia was the UK Children’s Laureate 2011-13, is a fellow of the Royal Society of
Literature, and in 2019 was honoured with a CBE for services to Literature. juliadonaldson.co.uk

Axel Scheffler is a star illustrator whose instantly recognisable, warm and witty illustrations have achieved worldwide acclaim and numerous awards including the inaugural Illustrator of the Year Award at the British Book Awards 2018. Axel’s artwork is exhibited internationally. He supports many charities, including Three Peas, which provides vital support for refugees and receives a £1 donation from every sale of his most recent book, Kind. axelscheffler.com