Gruffalo author and DJ Carl Cox named on Kings Birthday Honours List
Julia Donaldson's been made a Dame - while Carl Cox has received an OBE
The author of the Gruffalo and DJ Carl Cox are among people from Sussex named on the Kings Birthday Honours List.
The list celebrates people's outstanding achievements.
Julia Donaldson, who's from Horsham has been made a dame for her services to literature.
The 77-year-old has sold more than 50 million books worldwide and last year supplanted Harry Potter writer JK Rowling as the UK’s all-time top author in terms of units sold.
Sussex-born Cox has also been awarded an OBE for services to music.
Calls for more libraries
Calling the honour a "very happy surprise" Dame Julia has now issued a plea to the Government for “more libraries and more librarians in our communities and schools” so children can enjoy the benefits of reading.
“I’m so grateful for all the enthusiastic support I’ve had during my career from people in the book world – those in the very many libraries, schools and bookshops I’ve visited over the years, my wonderful illustrators, the publishers and literacy charities I’ve been involved with, and of course my readers.
“Going back further, perhaps my biggest debt of all is to the library which was in walking distance of my childhood home and the librarian who helped me discover the books and authors that I came to love.
“Without that place and person I probably would never have become a children’s writer – let alone a dame.
“So I’m making a plea to the Government for more libraries and more librarians in our communities and schools, so that the current generation of children can enjoy all the benefits that reading brings.”