Welcome back to the blog tour for our shortlisted titles in the Books for Younger Children category. Today we feature a Q&A with renowned author, Julia Donaldson about her shortlisted book, Gozzle. Gozzle was illustrated by Sara Ogilvie and is published with Macmillan Children’s Books.
How does it feel to be nominated for the Children’s Book Award? This is the only book award that is voted on solely by children across the UK.
It’s always gratifying when children like my books! But I hope none of the other shortlisted titles are about pants or bums or farts! In my experience those ones tend to win when children are the judges. (From CBA team: every year is a surprise as to what the children love the most but we wish all our shortlisted titles the best of luck!)
Tell us more about your book.
It’s a story about a bear and a baby goose, Gozzle, who hatches out and thinks that the bear is her daddy. It’s quite a funny story, with a few sad parts but a happy ending, and it’s a bit like a play because all the words are spoken by the characters. It’s also a story about the seasons, and the pictures, by Sara Ogilvie, capture that perfectly.
What do you hope that readers will take from reading your book?
I want them to laugh, maybe cry a tiny bit, smile at the end, and perhaps go round chanting “I’m NOT YOUR DADDY!”
Where do you find ideas and inspiration for your books?
This particular story developed from the idea of imprinting – the way that baby animals tend to regard the first creature they set eyes on as their parent. But it took me a while to decide who the characters should be; it’s often easier to get the germ of an idea than to develop it into a proper story.
Are you working on anything exciting that you can tell us about?
Well I am busy getting ready for a run of show I’m putting on at The Birmingham Town Hall. It’s called The Gruffalo, The Witch, and The Warthog and it’s running from the 13-15th March.
What advice would you give children keen to be an author or illustrator in the future?
Read a lot, write a lot, and maybe keep a notebook of your ideas.
Children across the UK are encouraged to get involved. Copies of the books can be purchased at a discount from our partner supplier Heath Books here https://www.heathbooks.co.uk/federation-of-childrens-book-groups-childrens-book-award-2026/ and online voting will be opened on Monday 23rd March here https://fcbg.org.uk/childrens-book-award-2026/
The deadline for voting is 12 noon on Friday 8th May and category winners and the overall winner of the most popular children’s book published in 2025 will be announced at a ceremony in Birmingham on 13th June, attended by representatives from all our local groups and livestreamed on the FCBG YouTube channel.
