Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137 in Books
• Published on: 1999-08-27
• Original language: English
• 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

Get it on your book shelf
I bought this book along with the gruffalo's child for my 3 year old daughter. What a fantastic buy, she loved it, the animation and story telling is brilliant, not only for her but for me as the reader. I will be buying the other books in this collection shortly.

Amazing Book!!!!
This has to be one of THE best kids books I have read in a long time. Bought it for my nephew who won't really understand it at a year old but the rhyming is so clever. Buy it, you won't be disappointed!! :)

Gruffalo Greatness
A mouse of the forest uses his wit and cunning to escape the jaws of many passing predators, by saying that he is a friend with a supposedly made-up beast called `The Gruffalo'. As the book progresses through bigger predators, it transpires that the mouse was partially telling the truth in that there is such a thing as The Gruffalo, but it too wishes to eat the mouse...

The book main moral backbone is regarding differences, bullying and confrontation. It also helps with phonics, placing sounds to animals and wildlife knowledge such as habitats.

When read to the pupils in [Primary School], it became clear to me just how popular this book this truly is. There are great possibilities in using this as a backup read, in order to test pupil's memory and participation levels. As suggested at the placement, The Gruffalo books could also be adapted into a musical by higher years, as the book has a compositional layout (clear verses and choruses), whilst the different animals could have different relevant instruments assigned to them (flute for mouse, heavy drums and rock guitar for Gruffalo etc). This then leads to the possibility for a school production, with a stage adaptation that incorporates the entire school.