20-05-2025
The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler: I'm one of life's shy tortoises
Britain's bestselling illustrator, Axel Scheffler, identifies with a tortoise. We are discussing his latest book, Welcome, with text by the author Alison Green. It's not so much a story as a series of thoughts about being open-hearted to those who are different from you.
Scheffler has filled the book with animals including a tiger, a crocodile, a squirrel, a tortoise and a badger in a wheelchair. When I ask him which one he relates to the most, he picks the tortoise because it's 'a little bit shy and quiet'.
Scheffler is self-effacing but his successful career has forced him out of his shell. He has illustrated more than 200 books, including over 30 collaborations since 1993 with the author Julia Donaldson. Their rhyming trickster
