The Gruffalos’s Child 15th Anniversary Addition
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Pan Macmillan Australia
ISBN: 9781509894475
RRP $14.99

Description:
“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.

My View:
I first heard of the Gruffalo when I chanced upon the animation based on the book, when searching for a video for my grandson to view, (yes it’s been more than 15 years since I have had a pre-schooler in my house). I loved the language, the rhyming and the story of the trickster mouse. Check out the promo here: 

When I started looking, this was just one of many versions of the story I discovered online, it has been so loved over the last 15 years there are many renditions..

The anniversary book continues on in the same style as the original book, The Gruffalo, with delightful rhyming and glorious illustrations.

This special edition includes some notes from the author and the illustrator about their thoughts whilst creating the new edition, a game or two (including  using torches for shadow making), kids love torches 🙂  Some press out animal characters from book and hints as to how you can help your child tell their own stories using the pieces.  What a great resource this is and a fun read.

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