Readers will know him from his best-selling, award-winning President series, (The President\u2019s Glasses, The President\u2019s Dog, The President\u2019s Cat, The President\u2019s Surprise and even The President\u2019s Sticker Activity Book) amongst many other colourful titles for younger readers but creating books is a relatively new chapter in his own story. As an animator, Peter worked on some of the biggest films of the millennial childhood, including The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go To Heaven and Anastasia.<\/p>\n
So why the move from a hugely successful animation career to author? Peter says with stories at the heart of the artwork, it wasn\u2019t such a big leap.<\/p>\n
![\"Author](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0022d719-614.jpg\"\/)
\nPetert Donnelly with some of his characters at home.<\/p>\n
He says: “The mixture of drawing and telling stories and learning about how stories are created kinda gave me the idea that I would love to create my own stories and I didn\u2019t know whether I could – that was the challenge. The power of writing a story and trying to get those emotions, making children laugh at places, making them sad at places, just all those emotional things you can put in books, that\u2019s what interested me.”<\/p>\n
When it comes to his own stories, Peter agrees that it\u2019s a bold move to write about a well-known person who is currently alive. His advice?<\/p>\n
“If you\u2019re going to write a book about somebody that\u2019s alive, be nice about them! I\u2019m a big fan of the president but when I wrote the first book, The President\u2019s Glasses, the President part came last. He was the last piece of the jigsaw.”<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0022d71b-614.jpg\"\/)
\nThe cover of Peter’s book – The President’s Glasses.<\/p>\n
Peter’s idea was that a pigeon would provide a bird\u2019s eye view of the city, allowing him to draw all his favourite inner-city spots and once he had the idea that the pigeon could help the President, the whole story came together in a single day.<\/p>\n
After writing so many books about the President (who interestingly is never actually named within the stories), has he ever met Michael D Higgins in person?<\/p>\n
“I have never met the man. I\u2019m after writing five books about him trying to meet him and I haven\u2019t got to. Come on! I\u2019m waiting for that call!”<\/p>\n
In terms of advice for young fans hoping to follow in his footsteps someday, Peter says you don\u2019t always have to be the most avid reader in the class to end up with your name on the cover of a book. “I came to reading books late, but I think I\u2019ve caught up! If you like to draw or you like to write stories, you just keep practising!”<\/p>\n