The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

This special 25th anniversary edition of The Gruffalo with its shiny gold cover is an absolute winner with young children, who may already be familiar with the Gruffalo from the original story, and other books (The Gruffalo’s child and Gruffalo growl) as well as the television series. The text is an absolute joy to read aloud:

A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.

And the clever little mouse is a delight as he manages to outwit a fox, an owl, and a snake. But faced with a real Gruffalo what will he do? Can he be clever enough to outsmart such a huge scary animal?

The story with its rhythm and rhyme, as well as the repetition of 'Silly old …! Doesn’t he know? There’s no such thing as a Gruffalo' will have children singing out the refrain. Alex Scheffler’s illustrations bring the narrative to life. The Gruffalo with his claws and horns and tusks is a fabulous monster, while the other creatures are equally engaging.

This edition has extra information at the end, with Julia Donaldson writing about her inspiration for the story, when she read ‘an old Chinese tale about a clever girl who tricks a hungry tiger,’ while Alex Scheffler’s inspiration for the Gruffalo was the idea of a buffalo. There are also instructions for making cupcakes to celebrate the Gruffalo’s birthday, and a QR code will bring up The Gruffalo’s song to listen to, and children will have enormous fun yelling out the last line “He’s a Gruffalo.”

This is a must have children's classic, ideal for home and classroom.

Themes: Monster, Mice, Tricks.

Pat Pledger