A GRUFFALO! Why, didn't you know? He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws...

The author, on the other hand, has a captivated audience of hundreds of thousands of children.

Legendary children's author Julia Donaldson evaded dragons, scarecrows, witches and, yes, Gruffalos to arrive in Galashiels and Eyemouth on Friday.

And waiting for her at the towns' libraries were primary three and four pupils from Tweedbank, St Joseph’s, Eyemouth and Chirnside primary schools.

Julia and her husband Malcolm entertained, and were entertained by, the enthusiastic children during the dual visit.

The visit was to mark the 20th anniversary of the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour the Donaldsons paid visits to Live Borders libraries in Galashiels and Eyemouth.

Julia, who has written more than 160 books, told the Border Telegraph: "It was wonderful to watch the pupils performing their adaptations of my picture books.

“I was particularly impressed with their musical performances.

"I love music so that was a real treat for me.”

To end the two sessions on Friday, the best-selling author and her husband performed their own musical plays and adaptations of her own picture books.

Julia's first book, A Squash and a Squeeze, was published in 1993, and since then she has become a favourite author of children around the world.

Her book, The Gruffalo, has sold over 13 million copies and has been adapted for film and theatre.

The grandmother of seven works tirelessly to promote the importance of children’s performance through drama to improve literacy and personal confidence and is a patron of Scottish Book Trust’s Bookbug programme.

She also works on the project PictureBookPlays to support teachers in developing performance in the classroom.

The Children’s Book Tour is sponsored by Scottish Friendly, one of the UK’s leading financial mutuals, and organised by Scottish Book Trust, the national charity transforming lives through reading and writing and has enthralled more than 100,000 children since it began in 1998.