Oxford Reading Tree: Level 9: Snapdragons: Molly and the Giant

Julia Jarman has written over 60 books for children. Born in 1946, Julia was brought up near Peterborough, and attended local schools. Her family had a small plot of land on which they kept chickens and pigs. They also had a dog, two cats, a succession of rabbits, and for a short time, a grass snake! Her pets have featured in her stories at some point. This little plot was important to Julia as she could escape there and read or just do nothing - essentials for a good imagination.

As a child she became a book worm and visited her local library on an almost daily basis. She started at one end of a shelf and read all the books until she reached the other end. Julia decided when she was 8 years old to become a children's writer, having read Little Women and the sequel Good Wives. The character in these books, Jo March, became a writer when she grew up and Julia wanted to be like her.

To begin with, Julia wrote to magazines, comics and newspapers and managed, at the age of 8, to have some work published.

On leaving school, Julia went to university to study English and Drama. She became a teacher to earn a living while developing her writing. During this stage she got married and had three children. Reading to her own children made her realise the importance of children's stories and underlined her determination to write.

Encouraged by her children, Julia started writing about people that were life like and exciting, and included some scary situations. Her philosophy is to take real life and add some 'what ifs' - and then anything can happen.

Julia still likes to read a lot but has to also make time for writing, which takes up about four days a week. She has little time for many hobbies as she also likes to visit schools one day a week to get feedback from children.

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