Children's Books > Julia Donaldson Children's Books > less than 5 GBP

Advantages: Fun and easy to read, colourful, beautiful illustrations
Disadvantages: Absolutely none!

As say the opening lines of this wonderful book: This is the tale of a tiny snail. And a great big, grey-blue humpback whale...... I think most people are aware of the Gruffalo, especially those with children, but for those who need a little introduction, The Gruffalo is the book which shot Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler to fame back in March 1999. Julia's beautiful, flowing words were accompanied by Axels stunning, colourful and exciting illustrations. ...
...Since then we have read the Gruffalo's Child and Monkey Puzzle. Both of which are wonderful, but, for me, The Snail & The Whale has clinched it. In this story, a brave little snail, very aware of his smallness, embarks on an adventure with a friendly, gentle whale. With each page you visit scary, beautiful, cold & sunny far off lands, until one day, the unthinkable happens, and the little snail must overcome his insecurities to help his friend. Julia ... Read review

Advantages: Gentle rhyming text
Disadvantages: none

Room on a Broom - Julia Donaldson Room on a Broom is another classic from Julia Donaldson, the author of 'The Gruffalo'. It is illustrated by Axel Sheffler with bright colourful illustrations that keep the pages turning. It is 24 pages long and is published by Macmillan for £5.99 This books just trips of the tongue with its gentle rhyming text. The friendly witch travels along on her broom and periodically loses items of clothing etc. They are found ...
...a ride on her broom. She graciously accepts them on her broom until disaster happens… Thankfully the animals she has made friends with on her journey have a cunning plan... As usual this is a very clever story that promotes strong values. It's a great story to read to children from three to about 7. My 3 year old would have this every night if given a choice. I like the fact that it is a friendly witch although on first glance I assumed that she ... Read review

Advantages: Fantastic text and illustrations
Disadvantages: none

The Gruffalo's Child This is the sequel to the Gruffalo written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It is 30 pages long and is published by Macmillan at a price of £5.99. As a sequel anyone who has read the Gruffalo will pick this up eagerly awaiting to see what happens next. It is also easy to read for people who have never heard of the Gruffalo but would certainly inspire people to go and read it! This story is set in the deep ...
...the point of view of the Gruffalo, or rather his child. The Gruffalo's chlild doesn't listen to the warnings not to go into the wood because of the 'Big Bad Mouse' so instead he heads off to the wood and what does he find… why a mouse of course. But he doesn't look 'terribly big' and 'terribly bad' or does he… Find out how the mouse gets himself out of this one. I love this story, just like I love all of Julia Donaldson's stories. She has a clever ... Read review

Advantages: A story with humor and morals
Disadvantages: none

The Smartest Giant in Town - Julia Donaldson This was the first of Julia Donaldson's books that I read. It wasn't straight away a favourite but it has definitely grown on me. It's a story about a friendly giant who one day decides that he doesn't want to be scruffy anymore so visits a new shop in town and kits himself out with a whole outfit. Unfortunately on his way home he meets a series of animals that have problems which he finds he can solve ...
...of the book he has almost none of his new clothes and he makes his way back to the shop to get some more. But the shop is closed... It is a tale of kindness and has a silly song that is expanded upon throughout the story. There are a few funny remarks which we now use as jokes within the family which my 3 year old thinks is very funny. This book retails at £5.99 although often you can find offers in WHSmiths or Amazon. I think we got ours from ... Read review

Advantages: Rhyming, adjectives, animals
Disadvantages: Swan doesn't get any chocolate mousse

...macaroni and carrots followed by chocolate mousse, but in the realm of children's books anything is possible. Julia Donaldson has in fact created a wonderful book bursting with rhyme, adjectives and the idea of differing personalities in Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose. The title is actually based on a line from one of the pages and the alliteration probably makes it the most obvious one to have been chosen. On each page we meet a different animal, ...
...and five, possibly six, and the Amazon price of £3.49 is excellent value. Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose by Julia Donaldson and Nick Sharratt Macmillan Children's Books, 2006 Paperback, 24 pages ISBN 140502190X Price £5.99 (£3.59 on Amazon) This is a printed book, not an audio book. ... Read review