by Gudrun Bowers | 24, Jul 2025
The Steyning Bookshop is joining Julia Donaldson and Victoria Sandøy’s paper chase around independent bookshops to celebrate the launch of her new book PAPER CHASE. An amazing chance to meet the nation’s favourite children’s author JULIA DONALDSON along with the book’s illustrator, Victoria Sandoy, and be the first to get a collectable, double-signed first edition of PAPER CHASE, 3 days before its official publication date!
This tour will also feature twenty of Julia Donaldson’s favourite titles from across her career.
Julia and Victoria will be signing PAPER CHASE (with any of her other Top Twenty books) between 3.30 and 5.30pm on Monday 8th September, at the Steyning Bookshop.
We will provide free activities and refreshments to keep children occupied while you wait, and if the weather is fine we will hold the signing in the beautiful bookshop back garden.
To reduce queue times, the signing will be ticketed with four available time slots at 3.30pm, 4pm, 4.30pm or 5pm, with 20 families in each slot. Your ‘ticket’ for the signing costs £12.99 which pays for your copy of Paper Chase, and entitles the ticket bearer, plus up to 5 additional family members, entry to the signing.
Julia will be happy to sign any number of books that are bought from The Steyning Bookshop on the day only. We request that each family party be limited to 6 family members. The person booking the ticket is required to attend for the book signing. If you require multiple copies of Paper Chase please do NOT book multiple tickets – we will have PLENTY of extra copies for you to purchase on the day!
ABOUT PAPER CHASE
A captivating paper chase, and an unforgettable adventure . . .Two children meet under a tall tree. James has a book. Ginger has a paper plane. They become friends . . .but then they are parted. Will they ever meet again? But this isn’t just James and Ginger’s story: it’s a paper chase, in which Julia Donaldson cleverly weaves the children’s tale of friendship into the amazing story of how paper is made. Children will be fascinated to see the remarkable journey of one tall tree, as it’s turned into paper, and becomes all sorts of things that we use, from bags and boxes to letters, cards and books.
Julia Donaldson’s perfect, read-aloud rhymes are brought gorgeously to life with warm, richly atmospheric illustrations by acclaimed illustrator, Victoria Sandøy.
Paper Chase is published by Scholastic in hardback at £12.99. Julia Donaldson and Victoria Sandoy’s previous books together are The Christmas Pine and The Oak Tree.
Purchase your Family Entry Ticket via the link below which leads to ALL available ime slots (small booking fee applies) alternatively call the bookshop on 01903 812062 or purchase in store.
by Gudrun Bowers | 7, May 2025
To celebrate the beautiful new edition of Julia Donaldson’s picture book Follow the Swallow, with vibrant new illustrations by Thomas Docherty, we are thrilled to be hosting an after-school book-signing on WEDNESDAY 4th JUNE with both Julia Donaldson AND Thomas Docherty. Grab your chance to meet Julia Donaldson and Thomas Docherty and get a copy of Follow the Swallow signed by both author AND illustrator! Follow the Swallow is a delightfully funny story about friendship, seasonal change, and the wonders of bird migration.
ABOUT THE BOOK-SIGNING
- PLEASE BOOK IN ADVANCE – 1 ticket per family group
- Your £7.99 ticket = a paperback copy of Follow the Swallow, and allows entry of one family group (of up to 5 people) to the book-signing.
- You’ll be able to purchase more copies of the new book and all Julia’s previous books on the day, from the Steyning Bookshop, and we will have copies of Thomas Docherty’s other books, too.
- Julia (and Thomas) will sign AND name-dedicate all books either pre-ordered or purchased at The Steyning Bookshop that day.
- We regret that we will not accept books from home or books purchased elsewhere for signing.
- The book-signing begins at 4pm and is split into 3 x 30-minute time-slots to reduce queue times, with 20 family groups in each time slot.
- The signing will take place mainly outdoors, under cover in the beautiful back garden of the Steyning Bookshop, Julia’s local bookshop.
- There will be activities & refreshments for children while you wait to meet Julia and Thomas.
Book online via our TICKETSOURCE page via the button below, or by phone on 01903 812062.
ABOUT FOLLOW THE SWALLOW
Chack the blackbird and Apollo the swallow are friends. But when Apollo tells Chack that he will soon be flying to Africa – Chack doesn’t believe him. And when Chack tells Apollo that the blossom on his favourite tree will one day turn into orange berries – Apollo doesn’t believe him either! But as the seasons change, Chack and Apollo are both in for a big surprise …
This gorgeous story of seasonal change was previously available as a slim chapter book and as a picture book illustrated by Pam Smy (now out of print). This new picture book edition features vibrant, lively illustrations by the wonderful illustrator THOMAS DOCHERTY, whose previous books include The Knight Who Wouldn’t Fight, The Bear-Shaped Hole, and Superwolf. Thomas also illustrated Julia’s two plays: Bombs and Blackberries and Chariots & Champions.
by Gudrun Bowers | 30, Jan 2025
Meet best-selling author JULIA DONALDSON for a very special BOOK-SIGNING event on WORLD BOOK DAY® at the Steyning Bookshop.
Swap your World Book Day token for one of this year’s World Book Day books, including Julia’s special ‘Who’s in Acorn Wood?’. Or use your voucher to get £1 off any books at the Steyning Bookshop, including any of Julia’s titles. Julia will happily sign and dedicate any of her books purchased in store on the day.
ABOUT THIS BOOK-SIGNING EVENT
There is no charge to attend this book-signing and meet Julia, but to reduce queuing and prevent overcrowding, you must book a ticket in advance. We are offering three 30-minute time-slots from 3.30pm. Each ‘ticket’ allows entry for 1 FAMILY GROUP (of up to 5 people) so please DO NOT book a ticket for each member of your party! There will be around 20 families in each time slot. There will be free refreshments and activities for children to enjoy while you wait to meet Julia!
We will have plenty of Julia’s special £1 World Book Day books which you can swap for your WBD token, plus a wide selection of ALL Julia’s books on sale, so come a little earlier than your slot to allow time to choose and purchase the books that you would like Julia to sign.
Click on the link below to book via our Ticketsource page – all time slots are listed there: 3.30-4pm, 4-4.30pm, 4.30-5pm
by Gudrun Bowers | 18, Apr 2024
Join JULIA DONALDSON for a very special book-signing to celebrate the release of her brand new book The Tooth Fairy & The Crocodile, her latest book with superstar illustrator LYDIA MONKS. The Tooth Fairy and the Crocodile tells the tale of Ruth Mary the tooth fairy, who gets more than she bargained for when she collects the teeth of some jungle animals, including a less-than-friendly crocodile!
ABOUT THE BOOK SIGNING
PLEASE BOOK IN ADVANCE – 1 ticket per family group
Your £12.99 ticket includes 1 hardback copy of The Tooth Fairy & The Crocodile, and allows entry of one family group (of up to 5 people) to the book-signing. You’ll be able to purchase more copies of the new book and all Julia’s previous books on the day, from the Steyning Bookshop. Julia will sign AND name-dedicate ALL books either pre-ordered or purchased at The Steyning Bookshop that day! We regret that we will not accept books from home or books purchased elsewhere for signing.
The book-signing begins at 2pm and is split into 40-minute time-slots to reduce queue times, with 25 family groups in each time slot, starting from 2pm. As each time slot fills up, we will start ticket sales for the next time slot. Feel free to call us for more info!
The signing will take place mainly outdoors, under cover in the beautiful back garden of the Steyning Bookshop, Julia’s local bookshop.
There will be activities, music & refreshments for children while you wait to meet Julia.
Book online via our TICKETSOURCE page via the button below, or by phone on 01903 812062.
by Gudrun Bowers | 10, Aug 2023
FROM 2pm on Saturday 30th September
Meet Julia Donaldson at her local bookshop as she celebrates the release of her wonderful new book The Oak Tree – along with illustrator Victoria Sandoy! This is an amazing opportunity to get a first edition hardback copy, signed by both author AND illustrator.
ABOUT THE OAK TREE
The Oak Tree charts the life of a majestic oak tree, in rich, dramatic verse, with charming, colourful illustrations.
A thousand years ago, a tiny acorn fell to the ground. As the years pass, it grows and GROWS into an enormous oak tree. As the centuries sweep by, children play games around the tree, it gives food and shelter to a host of animals, from squirrels and badgers to birds and beetles, and a fleeing king even hides inside its hollow trunk! After a thousand years, the ancient tree finally falls in a storm – but a new acorn sprouts, and the cycle of life begins all over again.
Julia and Victoria’s previous book together was The Christmas Pine, the story of the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree – copies of this book will also be on sale for signing. Plus, Julia has 2 other new books out in September – a new ‘Acorn Wood’ story, Dormouse Has a Cold, and the paperback edition of The Baddies, and we’ll have plenty of these on sale, too!
ABOUT THE BOOK-SIGNING
It is essential to book your place in advance. Your £12.99 ticket includes 1 copy of The Oak Tree, and allows entry to 1 family group (of up to 5 people) to the book-signing.
The book-signing will be split into 40-minute time-slots to reduce queue times, with 25 family groups in each time slot, starting from 2pm. As each time slot fills up, we will open the next session.
If you want to purchase multiple book copies – don’t buy multiple tickets please! You’ll have plenty of chance to buy more books on the day of the signing, and Julia will sign AND name-dedicate ALL books either pre-ordered or purchased at The Steyning Bookshop that day! We regret that we will not accept books from home for signing.
The book-signing will hopefully take place under cover in the beautiful back garden of the Steyning Bookshop, weather permitting! We will provide fun games and craft activities and free biscuits / juice for children while you wait to meet Julia.
Do give us a ring if you have any questions or if the time-slot is full – we can open up the next one!
Click above or HERE to be taken to The Steyning Bookshop Ticketsouce page, and choose your time-slot to book.
