1. The Gruffalo 1
The Gruffalo
The Gruffalo
The first edition
Author Julia Donaldson
Illustrator Axel Scheffler
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Children's fantasy
Publisher Macmillan
Publication date 23 March 1999
Pages 32
ISBN 0-333-71093-2
OCLC
59379845
[1]
Followed by The Gruffalo's Child
The Gruffalo is a children's book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, that tells
the story of a mouse, the protagonist of the book, taking a walk in the woods. The book has sold over 10.5 million
copies, has won several prizes for children's literature, and has been developed into plays on both the West End and
Broadway.
The Gruffalo was initially published in 1999 in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Children's Books (ISBN
0-333-71093-2) as a 32-page hardback edition, was followed six months later by a paperback edition, and
subsequently by a small-format board book edition. It was penned for readers aged three to seven, and is about 700
words long. It is written in rhyming couplets, featuring repetitive verse with minor variance.
Plot
The protagonist of The Gruffalo is a mouse. The story of the mouse's walk through the woods unfolds in two phases;
in both, the mouse uses cunning to evade danger.
On his way the mouse encounters several dangerous animals (a fox, an owl, and a snake). Each of these animals,
clearly intending to eat the mouse, invites him back to their home for a meal. The cunning mouse declines each offer.
To dissuade further advances, he tells each animal that he has plans to dine with his friend, a gruffalo, a monster-like
hybrid that's half grizzly bear and half buffalo, whose favourite food happens to be the relevant animal, and describes
the features of the gruffalo's monstrous anatomy. Frightened that the gruffalo might eat it, each animal flees.
Knowing the gruffalo to be fictional, the mouse gloats thus:
Silly old fox/owl/snake, doesn't he know?
there's no such thing as a gruffalo!
After getting rid of the last animal, the mouse is shocked to encounter a real gruffalo – with all the frightening
features the mouse thought that he was inventing. The gruffalo threatens to eat the mouse, but again the mouse is
cunning: he tells the gruffalo that he, the mouse, is the scariest animal in the forest. Laughing, the gruffalo agrees to
follow the mouse as he demonstrates how feared he is. The two walk through the forest, encountering in turn the
animals that had earlier menaced the mouse. Each is terrified by the sight of the pair and runs off – and each time the
gruffalo becomes more impressed with the mouse's apparent toughness. Exploiting this, the mouse threatens to eat
2. The Gruffalo 2
the gruffalo, which flees.
The story is based on a Chinese folklore tale of a fox that borrows the terror of a tiger. Donaldson was unable to
think of rhymes for "tiger" so invented one for "know" instead.
[2]
Recognition
The Gruffalo won the gold award (in the 0–5 years category) of the 1999 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. It was the
UK's best-selling picture book of 2000, won the 2000 Nottingham/Experian Children's Book award, and the Blue
Peter Best Book To Read Aloud award. The audio version won the Best Children's Audio award in the Spoken Book
Awards.
[3]
In November 2009 the book was voted "best bedtime story" by listeners of BBC Radio 2.
[4]
In a 2010
survey by UK charity Booktime, the book came first in a list of children's favourite books.
Translations
The Gruffalo has sold over 3.5 million copies in 31 editions worldwide. Translations include Croatian (Grubzon),
Dutch (De Gruffalo), Estonian (Grühvel), French (Gruffalo), German (Der Grüffelo), Greek (Το Γκρούφαλο),
Hebrew (Trofoti), Irish (An Garbhán), Italian (A spasso col mostro), Latin (Gruffalo), Latvian (Bubulis), Lithuanian
(Grufas), Low German (De Grüffelo), Polish (Gruffalo), Russian (Груффало), Slovene (Zverjasec), Spanish (El
Grúfalo), Scots (The Gruffalo), Scottish Gaelic (An Gruffalo), Swedish (Gruffalon), Norwegian (Gruffaloen),
Turkish (Tostoraman),
[5]
Welsh (Y Gryffalo), Afrikaans (Die Goorgomgaai) and Manx (Yn Gruffalo).
Versions and products
The book was initially sold as an A4 paperback book in 1999, and later as a smaller A5 board book version in 2002.
An audio book version, narrated by Imelda Staunton, was released in 2002, and a jigsaw book version (ISBN
1-4050-3496-3) was published in 2004. The book is also sold packaged with a gruffalo soft toy. At some point in the
print run of the hardcover paper page book, the dialogue was subtly changed. There are two different ISBN numbers
for the book. However, the older ISBN number that relates to the original text is no longer available.
[citation needed]
The "Gruffalo song" was released with the audiobook, as a standalone CD single, and on a musical CD with other
songs from Donaldson's books.
[citation needed]
Donaldson and Scheffler's sequel, 2004's The Gruffalo's Child (which tells the story of the gruffalo's child, warned
by its parent of the terrifying mouse) won the "Best Children's Book" award in the 2005 British Book Awards.
A Gruffalo Woodland Trail has been created at the Dean Heritage Centre, Soudley in the Forest of Dean, UK. The
trail depicts the scenes from the book and has been carved by local chainsaw artists out of local redwood. The trail
runs daily throughout 2012.
A ridable wheeled Gruffalo children's suitcase is manufactured for Trunki; the case had been featured as a pitch idea
on the entrepreneur game show Dragons' Den and
[citation needed]
rejected by the show's judges.
Donaldson and Scheffler have collaborated on many other titles; some feature cameos from the Gruffalo in other
guises, including as Christmas tree decoration in Stick Man,a drawing by a child in The Snail and the Whale and a
fish in Tiddler[6].
3. The Gruffalo 3
Adaptations
Film
The book has been adapted into a 30-minute animated film, which was broadcast on BBC One in the UK on 25
December 2009. This newWikipedia:Please clarify version features Robbie Coltrane in the title role and James
Corden as the mouse as well as Helena Bonham Carter as the mother squirrel narrator and Rob Brydon as the Snake.
The production was animated at the award winning Studio Soi
[7]
in Germany and produced through Magic Light
Pictures.
[8]
The film also has the voices of John Hurt as the Owl and Tom Wilkinson as the Fox. It was nominated
for an Academy Award for Best Short Film (Animated) on 25 January 2011. The film was also nominated for a
BAFTA in 2010.
Theatre
The Gruffalo has been adapted for the stage by Tall Stories theatre company. The production has visited the West
End for the last five years, including a staging at the Lyric Theatre, London during Christmas 2011. The Tall Stories
production has also toured the UK and internationally, including performances at Sydney Opera House in September
2011 and a UK tour in 2012.
Media appearances
The book appears in the Doctor Who series 5 episode "The Hungry Earth": Mo reads it to his son, then later by
himself before the "strange event" happens.
Culture
One of the scenes on the Gruffalo Trail
The Dean Heritage Centre in the Forest of Dean, England was given
permission by author Julia Donaldson, illustrator Axel Scheffler and
the publisher's Macmillan Children's Books, London, UK, to create the
Gruffalo trail within the national park.
References
[1] http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59379845
[2] Information on Julia Donaldson, children's author and creator of The Gruffalo (http:/
/www.juliadonaldson.co.uk/about.htm)
[3] h2g2 - 'The Gruffalo' and 'The Gruffalo's Child' - Children's Stories (http://www.
bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A13729746)
[4] BBC - Radio 2 - Jeremy Vine - Jeremy Vine's Bedtime Stories (http://www.bbc.
co.uk/radio2/shows/jeremy-vine/bedtime-stories/)
[5][5] Published by Popcore, 2007; translation by Yildirim Türker
[6] http://toolserver.org/%7Edispenser/cgi-bin/dab_solver.py?page=The_Gruffalo&
editintro=Template:Disambiguation_needed/editintro&client=Template:Dn
[7] Studio Soi (http://www.studiosoi.de)
[8] Magic Light Pictures – The Gruffalo (http://www.magiclightpictures.com/
the_gruffalo.html)
4. The Gruffalo 4
Further reading
• Julia Donaldson video podcast (http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/podcasts/video/julia-donaldson), the author
discusses The Gruffallo on scottishbooktrust.com (http://www.scottishbooktrust.com)
• news story (http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/sydney-opera-house/
the-mouse-that-roared-20110923-1ko2s.html) about the Tall Stories production at Sydney Opera House
• The Gruffalo creator Julia Donaldson reveals the story behind Britain's best-loved bedtime story (http://www.
dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1236672/
The-Gruffalo-creator-Julia-Donaldson-reveals-story-Britains-best-loved-bedtime-story.html) By JENNY
JOHNSTON, Daily Mail, 1 January 2010
External links
• gruffalo.com (http://www.gruffalo.com/), the book's website
• the author's website (http://www.juliadonaldson.co.uk)
• thegruffalolive.com (http://www.gruffalolive.com/), the website for the stage adaptation
• Tall Stories (http://tallstories.org.uk/), the website of the theatre company who have adapted the book for the
stage
• ESL resources for primary school teachers (http://crdp.ac-dijon.fr/The-Gruffalo.html)
• Who would love a Gruffalo? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11584795), Giles Wilson, BBC News
Magazine, 22 October 2010
• (http://www.deanheritagecentre.com/events/gruffalotrail.html) The Gruffalo trail at the Dean Heritage Centre
for 2012
![The Gruffalo 1
The Gruffalo
The Gruffalo
The first edition
Author Julia Donaldson
Illustrator Axel Scheffler
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre Children's fantasy
Publisher Macmillan
Publication date 23 March 1999
Pages 32
ISBN 0-333-71093-2
OCLC
59379845
[1]
Followed by The Gruffalo's Child
The Gruffalo is a children's book by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, that tells
the story of a mouse, the protagonist of the book, taking a walk in the woods. The book has sold over 10.5 million
copies, has won several prizes for children's literature, and has been developed into plays on both the West End and
Broadway.
The Gruffalo was initially published in 1999 in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Children's Books (ISBN
0-333-71093-2) as a 32-page hardback edition, was followed six months later by a paperback edition, and
subsequently by a small-format board book edition. It was penned for readers aged three to seven, and is about 700
words long. It is written in rhyming couplets, featuring repetitive verse with minor variance.
Plot
The protagonist of The Gruffalo is a mouse. The story of the mouse's walk through the woods unfolds in two phases;
in both, the mouse uses cunning to evade danger.
On his way the mouse encounters several dangerous animals (a fox, an owl, and a snake). Each of these animals,
clearly intending to eat the mouse, invites him back to their home for a meal. The cunning mouse declines each offer.
To dissuade further advances, he tells each animal that he has plans to dine with his friend, a gruffalo, a monster-like
hybrid that's half grizzly bear and half buffalo, whose favourite food happens to be the relevant animal, and describes
the features of the gruffalo's monstrous anatomy. Frightened that the gruffalo might eat it, each animal flees.
Knowing the gruffalo to be fictional, the mouse gloats thus:
Silly old fox/owl/snake, doesn't he know?
there's no such thing as a gruffalo!
After getting rid of the last animal, the mouse is shocked to encounter a real gruffalo – with all the frightening
features the mouse thought that he was inventing. The gruffalo threatens to eat the mouse, but again the mouse is
cunning: he tells the gruffalo that he, the mouse, is the scariest animal in the forest. Laughing, the gruffalo agrees to
follow the mouse as he demonstrates how feared he is. The two walk through the forest, encountering in turn the
animals that had earlier menaced the mouse. Each is terrified by the sight of the pair and runs off – and each time the
gruffalo becomes more impressed with the mouse's apparent toughness. Exploiting this, the mouse threatens to eat](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/thegruffalo-140402121551-phpapp02/85/The-Gruffalo-1-320.jpg?cb=1396441052)
![The Gruffalo 2
the gruffalo, which flees.
The story is based on a Chinese folklore tale of a fox that borrows the terror of a tiger. Donaldson was unable to
think of rhymes for "tiger" so invented one for "know" instead.
[2]
Recognition
The Gruffalo won the gold award (in the 0–5 years category) of the 1999 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. It was the
UK's best-selling picture book of 2000, won the 2000 Nottingham/Experian Children's Book award, and the Blue
Peter Best Book To Read Aloud award. The audio version won the Best Children's Audio award in the Spoken Book
Awards.
[3]
In November 2009 the book was voted "best bedtime story" by listeners of BBC Radio 2.
[4]
In a 2010
survey by UK charity Booktime, the book came first in a list of children's favourite books.
Translations
The Gruffalo has sold over 3.5 million copies in 31 editions worldwide. Translations include Croatian (Grubzon),
Dutch (De Gruffalo), Estonian (Grühvel), French (Gruffalo), German (Der Grüffelo), Greek (Το Γκρούφαλο),
Hebrew (Trofoti), Irish (An Garbhán), Italian (A spasso col mostro), Latin (Gruffalo), Latvian (Bubulis), Lithuanian
(Grufas), Low German (De Grüffelo), Polish (Gruffalo), Russian (Груффало), Slovene (Zverjasec), Spanish (El
Grúfalo), Scots (The Gruffalo), Scottish Gaelic (An Gruffalo), Swedish (Gruffalon), Norwegian (Gruffaloen),
Turkish (Tostoraman),
[5]
Welsh (Y Gryffalo), Afrikaans (Die Goorgomgaai) and Manx (Yn Gruffalo).
Versions and products
The book was initially sold as an A4 paperback book in 1999, and later as a smaller A5 board book version in 2002.
An audio book version, narrated by Imelda Staunton, was released in 2002, and a jigsaw book version (ISBN
1-4050-3496-3) was published in 2004. The book is also sold packaged with a gruffalo soft toy. At some point in the
print run of the hardcover paper page book, the dialogue was subtly changed. There are two different ISBN numbers
for the book. However, the older ISBN number that relates to the original text is no longer available.
[citation needed]
The "Gruffalo song" was released with the audiobook, as a standalone CD single, and on a musical CD with other
songs from Donaldson's books.
[citation needed]
Donaldson and Scheffler's sequel, 2004's The Gruffalo's Child (which tells the story of the gruffalo's child, warned
by its parent of the terrifying mouse) won the "Best Children's Book" award in the 2005 British Book Awards.
A Gruffalo Woodland Trail has been created at the Dean Heritage Centre, Soudley in the Forest of Dean, UK. The
trail depicts the scenes from the book and has been carved by local chainsaw artists out of local redwood. The trail
runs daily throughout 2012.
A ridable wheeled Gruffalo children's suitcase is manufactured for Trunki; the case had been featured as a pitch idea
on the entrepreneur game show Dragons' Den and
[citation needed]
rejected by the show's judges.
Donaldson and Scheffler have collaborated on many other titles; some feature cameos from the Gruffalo in other
guises, including as Christmas tree decoration in Stick Man,a drawing by a child in The Snail and the Whale and a
fish in Tiddler[6].](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)