Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #156 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-27
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
"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."

And so begins the story of a quick-witted mouse as he encounters a host of predators who seem to think he might make a tasty treat. As he ventures deeper into the deep dark wood, stumbling across a hungry fox, a not-so-wise owl, and a slimy snake, spinning ever-extraordinary yarns about the scary, scaly gruffalo, he quickly realises that the hungry beast he has been talking of isn't imaginary after all.

A witty, sly little story that wrings giggles from the belly of the reader, The Gruffalo is both stylish and hilarious, simple in its execution, as it plays skilfully on a child's fears and then shows that even the most threatening of monsters are not always as scary as they seem.

A combination of read-along-rhyme by Julia Donaldson and illustrations by Alex Sheffler which perfectly capture the atmosphere of the story, The Gruffalo is an excellent picture book for 3-5-year-olds to read along with their parents, and is certain to become something of a classic. --Susan Harrison

Synopsis
A rhyming story of a mouse and a monster. Little mouse goes for a walk in a dangerous forest. To scare off his enemies, he invents tales of a fantastical creature called the Gruffalo. Imagine his surprise when he meets the real Gruffalo!

Customer Reviews

wonderful
It's great.

Buy it.

Your kids will love it.

Excellent
I bought this book based on a recent poll of top books for children and I was not disappointed. At the time my daughter was 14 months old and so I was a little concerned it would be too old for, how wrong could I be. The first time I read it to her was the first time she sat through a whole book. She then urged me to read it twice more.
It is now a firm family favourite and I have sent many copies to friends and family as gifts.

GREAT STUFF!
Characters:
Mouse - he is the main character. He saves himself from being eaten very cleverly.
Fox, Owl and Snake: these three animals are the ones who try to eat the little creature by inviting him back to their individual homes but they become more frightened of him then he is of them...
The Gruffalo - he is an imagination of Mouse; he is also the one who stops Mouse from getting eaten by the several different dangerous animals.

Settings:
The story is set in three parts of the deep dark wood: the first is near the rocks where he meets Fox. The second is by the stream where he bumps into Owl and the final setting is by the lake, where he encounters Snake.

Plot:
Mouse is going to be lunch for three dangerous creatures but he manages to scare them off...

Rating: I would rate it 7/10.
Recommendation: young children aged 4 - 7 and older people to read to them.