The Gruffalo, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. 32 pp. Dial Books, 2005. $16.99.
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As all children know, or soon will once they begin reading fairy tales, forests are dark, dangerous places. So it would seem for Julia Donaldson’s small mouse hero as he embarks on a stroll through the woods. Except this little mouse, who looks like a good meal to each creature he meets — fox, owl, snake — outwits them by describing the friend he’s about to meet: gruffalo.
"A gruffalo? What’s a gruffalo?"
"A gruffalo! Why didn’t you know?""He has terrible tusks and terrible claws,
And terrible teeth in his terrible jaws.""Where are you meeting him?"
"Here by these rocks,
And his favorite food is roasted fox."
Even when he comes face to face with the real gruffalo, huge claws and all, little mouse keeps his cool and uses his brains, a lesson every child will take to heart.
A beloved Smarties Book Prize winner in the UK, this excellent read-aloud book deserves to be on every American bookshelf. Donaldon’s exuberant rhyming prose and farcical descriptions hand readers a license to really ham it up too.
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If you like this book, you might also like: The Snail and the Whale, by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler; Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Erika Oller; Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.
Also, gruffalo.com has many fun activities, video of Julia Donaldson singing (she started as a children’s song writer and performer) and more.
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