The Gruffalo's Child
First edition cover.
AuthorJulia Donaldson
IllustratorAxel Scheffler
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's
PublisherMacmillan
Publication date
3 September 2004
Pages32
ISBN978-1-4050-2045-9
OCLC56537100
Preceded byThe Gruffalo 

The Gruffalo's Child is a British children's picture book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It is the bestselling sequel to The Gruffalo[1][2] and won the 2005 National Book Awards Children's Book of the Year.[3][4] The book has been adapted into theatrical productions since 2005 and was adapted into the 2011 animated film The Gruffalo's Child.

Plot

The story is about the Gruffalo's daughter who, despite her father's warning, sets off into the deep dark wood to find the "big bad mouse", the only thing her father is afraid of. The Gruffalo can not remember what he looks like and describes him as a monster.

During her winter journey, she encounters the tracks of the snake, the owl, and the fox from the previous story, each of whom she first suspects to be the "big bad mouse", but who in turn tell her where she can find the real "big bad mouse". Eventually, concluding she has been tricked by the animals (and perhaps her father), she sadly decides that she "doesn't believe in the 'big bad mouse".

At this point, she encounters the little mouse from The Gruffalo, who previously tricked her father and whom her father and the animals were talking about. When she threatens to eat him, he cunningly invites her to meet the "big bad mouse", which he re-creates by using moonlight to project a tremendously enlarged and fearsome shadow to scare her away. Believing the shadow to belong to the real "big bad mouse", the Gruffalo's child flees and returns to the Gruffalo cave with faith in her father restored.

The story repeats the "brains over brawn" theme, the creatures, and the easily flowing rhyme scheme (tetrameter) of its predecessor, The Gruffalo.

Reception

According to BookTrust, the book "has all the charm of the original: a witty, rhyming text, enchanting illustrations and a neat reversal of the original plot."[1] According to a review in The Horn Book Magazine, "Scheffler's humorous, cartoonlike illustrations, which depict the Gruffalo and his child as more teddy-bear-like than monstrous, work well with Donaldson’s pleasingly repetitive text in rhyme to create a story that, like its small hero, is clever rather than truly scary."[5] A Publishers Weekly review includes, "Scheffler's amiable depiction of the baby gruffalo in "the deep dark wood" builds up plenty of empathy for the galumphing youngster, who finally meets the mouse hero of the first Gruffalo tale."[6] A review in School Library Journal states, "While children may appreciate the details (the stick doll, snake tracks in the snow, gruffalo child's cave drawings) in the art, lack of change from picture to picture and in perspective diminish its effectiveness."[7]

Adaptations

The book was adapted for the stage in 2005, and has toured around the United Kingdom since then.[8][9]

The book was also adapted into the 2011 animated film The Gruffalo's Child.[10]

Background

The mouse's shadow appearing enlarged is not something that would occur in the real world; Axel Scheffler has described this as "the greatest challenge" while illustrating, and comments, "Somehow it looks real in the book - even though it defies all the laws of physics!"[11][12]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Gruffalo's Child". BookTrust. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "BookScan bestsellers: Sales by volume in 2004: TOP 15 CHILDREN'S HARDBACKS". The Bookseller. March 18, 2005 – via Literary Reference Center Plus.
  3. ↑ Sharp, Rob (26 November 2006). "Gruffalo, the monster we all love". The Observer. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Pauli, Michelle (7 June 2011). "Gruffalo creator Julia Donaldson is new children's laureate". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  5. ↑ Brabander, Jennifer M. (January 1, 2005). "Julia Donaldson The Gruffalo's Child; illus. by Axel Scheffler". The Horn Book Magazine. 81 (1): 75-76. ISSN 0018-5078 – via Literary Reference Center Plus.
  6. ↑ "THE GRUFFALO'S CHILD by Julia Donaldson". Publishers Weekly. December 13, 2004. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Loch-Wouters, Marge (March 2005). "The Gruffalo's Child". School Library Journal. 51 (3) – via Literary Reference Center Plus.
  8. ↑ Dowell, Ben (27 November 2017). "The Gruffalo's Child review: Julia Donaldson's magical story is brought to life". Radio Times. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Hood, Alun (7 December 2020). "Review: The Gruffalo's Child (Alexandra Palace Theatre)". WhatsOnStage.com. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Ashby, Emily. "The Gruffalo's Child Movie Review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Scheffler, Axel. "The Gruffalo's child". Axel Scheffler. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  12. ↑ Donaldson, Julia; Scheffler, Axel (29 April 2016). "Gruffalos and goats: Axel Scheffler's sketchbook – in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
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