THERE was huge excitement for children in Oswestry, as the Gruffalo visited the town.

The popular children's character came to Booka Bookshop on Church Street on Wednesday, March 16, alongside the book's author Julia Donaldson, who was signing copies of her best-selling works.

Among the parents who brought along their children was Natalie Powles-Murphy, who was accompanied by her two-year-old daughter, Winnie.

Natalie said: "It's very exciting isn't it, seeing the Gruffalo in person.

"It is lovely, really nice to see the face behind all the books she has written.

"She has got so many magical books, so to actually meet her and have signed copy of her books is great.

"We really want to see what somebody can achieve and she wrote these books.

"If you work hard, you can do good things. Winnie is only two, she loves her books."

Imogen Brookes, who works at Booka, said: "We were expecting these numbers, it sold out within three hours.

"We knew it was going to be busy, but we have done big events before in the past.

"We have lots of big children's authors. We are having these types of events again after two years."

Many felt the presence of a prolific children's author was beneficial for promoting reading amongst young children and said reading hard copies of books remains a popular pastime for children in an increasingly digital world.

Julia Donaldson is one of the best-selling children's authors in the country, having racked up more than 27 million sales between 2010 and 2019.

Her stories are regularly adapted for television by the BBC, with short films such as Zog and Superworm becoming Christmas TV staples in recent years.

Ms Brookes added: "It is so important, it is just brilliant to authors in chatting to kids.

"She is pretty much the queen of children's picture books.

"Kids are still big readers, more than ever children's book selling has grown massively in the last 10 to 20 years.

"I think children's books and children's book selling are doing bigger and better than ever."

Booka thanked people for coming to the event, hailing the occasion as a big success.

Owner Tim Morris, said: "We are thrilled to welcome Julia back to Oswestry.

"Thanks to everyone who came along to the book signing to meet Julia and the Gruffalo.

"Everyone had a great time."