Have you read and enjoyed "The Gruffalo"? Try this book for the same easy reading, rhyming style. After reading "The Gruffalo", of course, we HAD to buy this, and for a while, it was compulsory bed time reading. What did |I find? A totally endearing book, in which the gruffalo's child continues ... Read review
The Gruffalo said that no gruffalo should Ever set foot in the deep dark wood. But one ... more
wild and windy night the Gruffalo's child ignores her father's warning and tiptoes out into the snow. After all, the Big Bad Mouse doesn't really exist ...does he?
...Gruffalo"? Try this book for the same easy reading, rhyming style. After reading "The Gruffalo", of course, we HAD to buy this, and for a while, it was compulsory bed time reading. What did |I find? A totally endearing book, in which the gruffalo's child continues the relationship with the mouse.
THE STORY
As with most (if not all) Julia Donaldson books, this is all rhyming, and so is very easy for young children ... ...they can repeat some of the text.
It starts with the gruffalo and his child (boy/girl, not sure!) sitting in their little cave, and gruffalo tells his child that "no gruffalo should set foot in the deep dark wood" The little gruffalo is naturally curious and asks why. Remember the mouse in "The Gruffalo"? If children have read it, they will probably guess why little one should avoid the wood. IT'S THE MOUSE!! The Gruffalo ... more
Have you read and enjoyed "The Gruffalo"? Try this book for the same easy reading, rhyming style. After reading "The Gruffalo", of course, we HAD to buy this, and for a while, it was compulsory bed time reading. What did |I find? A totally endearing book, in which the gruffalo's child continues the relationship with the mouse.
THE STORY As with most (if not all) Julia Donaldson books, this is all rhyming, and so is very easy for young children to follow and remember, so increasing their enjoyment of the story...they LOVE it when they can repeat some of the text. It starts with the gruffalo and his child (boy/girl, not sure!) sitting in their little cave, and gruffalo tells his child that "no gruffalo should set foot in the deep dark wood" The little gruffalo is naturally curious and asks why. Remember the mouse in "The Gruffalo"? If children have read it, they will probably guess why little one should avoid the wood. IT'S THE MOUSE!! The Gruffalo goes on to explain what the mouse is like...terribly strong with a scaly tail, eyes like pools of terrible fire and whiskers tougher than wire. We like this bit and have to cross reference with "The Gruffalo" since my daughter is convinced (and rightly so) that the mouse in the first book was only tiny. Of course, being a child, the gruffalo's child HAS to go into the deep dark wood to find this mouse. Be careful comes the cry because if children have read this before, they know what's going to happen. He finds a tail in the snow "could this be the tail of the mouse?" No, it's the snake who tells him that the mouse is by the lake "eating gruffalo cake" Brave little gruffalo soldiers on through the snow repeating to himself that he is not scared. What's this...he sees claw marks and two gleaming eyes. Could this be the Big Bad Mouse? No, his tail is too short and he had no whiskers. It was owl who told little gruffalo that mouse was "somewhere nearby eating gruffalo pie". Still unafriad, the gruffalo's child soldiers on and sees a track in the snow. Could this be the home of The Big Bad Mouse? It's a fox who tells him that the mouse is "under a tree- drinking gruffalo tea. Ohg dear, the gruffalo's child thinks it's all a trick and sits down, thinking that he doesn't believe in the Big Bad Mouse. At this stage, we go into almost pantomime mode, with little lady shouting at the gruffalo that yes, indeed, there IS a mouse. Suddenly, out of his house comes a tiny mouse, superb for a midnight feast thinks the gruffalo's child. Clever mouse thinks fast and tells the gruffalo's child that he has a friend "so big and bad" he would like him to meet. At last, thinks the gruffalo's child, the Big Bad Mouse! Little mouse hops onto the branch of a nearby tree and we see a HUGE shadow fall across the snow. It looks as though he is carrying a boulder on his shoulder, and he looks big and strong. Poor gruffalo's child is terrified, and runs. Do I blame him, not at all. Mouse follows the footprints all the way back to the gruffalo cave where the gruffalo's child was a bit less brave and a bit less bored and quite happy to stay in the cave with the Gruffalo. At the end of the story, there's the mouse, on a rock, eating his nut, just as we found him in "The Gruffalo" Phew...whistle stop explanation of the storyline
THE ILLUSTRATIONS Alex Scheffler seems to illustrate alot of Julia Donaldson books, and their styles merge brilliantly. The Gruffalo is obviously the same gruffalo, with his child being a mini version. The story takes place at night, and the illustartions really show the gruffalo's child struggling through the snow. When he is walking along, he is shown with his head bent against the wind. I like the fact, and children notice this too, that at the start of the story, gruffalo's child is sitting in the cave with his toys around him, which a made of twigs, and as he wanders about, he carries one of them, as a child would carry a favourite toy. When he sees the mouse, it's a great illustration, with him jumping back in horror but still clutching his toy!
WHY DO I LIKE THIS? Lots of ideas to use with children. I obviously read it to my little girl with alarming frequency, but in school, I have used it to illustrate shadows because the part where the mouse stands on the tree illuminated by the moon is a lovely way to show very young children the effect of light and shadows. Children quickly pick up the repetitive text and especially like to say "I'm not scared and at the end of appropriate lines, they will join in with "Big Bad Mouse" Excellent to go through rhyming words...let children finish off sentences with a different rhyming word to that used in the book...could be nonsence but children love nonsense. My little girl has "The Gruffalo" with her when we read this- it's almost a sense of security to ensure that all the characters are the same...they are. It's a GREAT read and can be read to very young children, and older children understand some of the concepts of overcoming fears and thinking of ways round problems.
RECOMMENDED? Yes, certainly. I did wonder if it would be as good as "The Gruffalo"; it is and neither my daughter nor I were disappointed.
PUBLISHER Macmillan Children's Books
ISBN 1 405 02045 8
WEBSITE www.juliadonaldson.co.uk Has information about the author, and her books, neatly divided into picture books, early readers, songs and poems. If you enjoy Julia Donaldson books, it's worth checking it out.
OTHER BOOKS BY JULIA DONALDSON The Gruffalo Follow the Swallow One Ted Fell Out of Bed Rosie's Hat Room on the Broom Sharing a Shell The Magic Paintbrush
Advantages: excellent story and illustrations Disadvantages: none!
The Gruffalo's Child' is another delightful children's picture book by the fantastic team of Julia Donaldsona and Axel Scheffler. Although it can be read as a stand alone story, I think your child will get more enjoyment out of it if they have read 'The Gruffalo' first.
If you don't know the story of 'The Gruffalo' it is basically about a small mouse who meets a number of creatures in the forest who all want to eat him! He warns them off by saying ... ...he has made up. All the animals are scared off, the mouse goes happily on his way until... he really does meet a gruffalo! He manages to trick the gruffalo into not eating him also by claiming he is the scariest creature in the forest!
'The Gruffalo's Child' builds on some of the ideas in the original story. At the beginning we meet the Gruffalo in his cave, warning hs small child that she must never go out alone in the deep dark wood because the ...
kingfisher111 19.02.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson
Advantages: familiar,funny verse and great characters Disadvantages: No!
...to pick up three for the price of two at the Early Learning Centre.
Among the three was The Gruffalo's Child, the work of Children's literature queen, Julia Donaldson.
***Who is Julia Donaldson?***
A mother of three, Julia began her career as a singer/songwriter, most prominently for children's television. In 1993 she had one of these songs, A squash and a Squeeze made into a book which was illustrated by her partner in crime, illustrator Axel ... ...due to be published over the next two years and is in the process of writing her first pre-teen novel. A busy lady!
Julia's collection of books include The Gruffalo, Monkey Puzzle, Room on the Broom and the Smartest Giant in Town all of which Axel Sheffler illustrated.
***Who is Axel Sheffler?***
Originally German, Axel studied History of Art at the University of Hamburg but feeling uninspired left before graduating. He moved to England shortly ...
ally2kc 14.08.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson
Advantages: Great story and illustrations. Fabulous rhyming text. A great sequel to the Gruffalo! Disadvantages: None
I was surprised to see the Gruffalo had managed to produce a child, I always thought of it as being asexual and never quite knew whether it was a male or female but there you go but on reading this book I know it's a 'he' Gruffalo as the child calls him Dad. Glad I got that one sorted out in my head!
Anyone who is or was a fan of The Gruffalo picture book will certainly not be disappointed with the sequel. It is best enjoyed if you have read the ... ...All told in rhyme
The Gruffalo girl child has grown up with stories of the legendary big bad mouse which the Gruffalo talks of meeting once, long ago. "The Big Bad Mouse is terribly strong
And his scaly tail is terribly long.
His eyes are like pools of terrible fire
And his terrible whiskers are tougher than wire"
And so she is warned not to go in to the deep dark wood for fear of meeting the creature but being an inquisitive child, she ignores ...
neenn 13.02.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson
Advantages: an entertaining read Disadvantages: none
The gruffalo's child was feeling bored.... is she brave enough to go on a hunt for the big bad mouse? Another classic story by Julia Donaldson, this quirky tale leads on from 'The Gruffalo' where we see the little mouse outsmart the knobbly-kneed, yellow-eyed wood-dweller. Will the mouse be made into a midnight feast for the curious little Gruffalo or will he really be as big and bad as legends tell? Julia Donaldson uses her masterful rhythm and ...
aquaquartz 28.09.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson
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 ...
vickigroth 06.03.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson
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Advantages: Great rhyme and illustrations Disadvantages: None
!
Some boys build castles with the hat.
SCOOP, SCOOP! PAT, PAT!
The illustrations work so well alongside the text and at some points actually inform the reader of the story more than the text, for example we aren't told via the text that Rosie has become a fire-fighter, it's only through the images that we find this out.
~ Educational Values ~
~ It is invaluable for encouraging young children to identify rhyme.
~ Encourages children's participation and develops memory skills due to it's limited text, even very young children can commit this to memory quite quickly.
~ I have even used this with slightly older children when we have been looking at the concept of onomatopoeia as it is a great example of this.
~ Other books by JuliaDonaldson ~
- A squash and a squeeze
- Monkey Puzzle
- The Gruffalo's Child ...
Advantages: Wonderful play book Disadvantages: Challenges Parent's own knowledge & has lots of piece to loose
Went to Sea, written by Phyllis Root
The Tickle Book, written by Ian Whybrow
Tales from Acorn Wood: Postman Bear, written by JuliaDonaldson
A Squash and a Squeeze, written by JuliaDonaldson
The Gruffalo, written by JuliaDonaldson
Monkey Puzzle, written by JuliaDonaldson
Room on the Broom, written by JuliaDonaldson
The Smartest Giant in Town, written by JuliaDonaldson
Tales from Acorn Wood: Rabbit's Nap, written by JuliaDonaldson
Juice the Pig, written by Martine Osborne
Jingle Jangle Jungle
Proverbs from Far and Wide
The Snail and the Whale, written by JuliaDonaldson
Tales from Acorn Wood: Rabbit's Nap, written by JuliaDonaldson
Tales from Acorn Wood: Fox's Socks, written by JuliaDonaldson
Muddle Farm
The Gruffalo's Child, written by JuliaDonaldson
Charlie Cook's Favourite Book, written by Julia ...
Advantages: Great children's story, repetitive, illustrations Disadvantages: None!
to have lunch with the Gruffalo."
As you can see there is plenty to talk about in the book....after reading the book you can then go on to talk about animals and where they live eg foxes live underground, owls in trees etc...You can also talk about the dangers of going with strangers as the mouse is polite but says no!
This is aimed at children from about 3 - 6 yr old
But my 7 year old son still loves the story too.
Other books by JuliaDonaldson
-The Gruffalo's Child
-Room on the Broom
-Monkey Puzzle
-The Smartest Giant in Town
-A Squash and a Squeeze
-The Snail and the Whale
I have 3 of these books so far but am definately going to collect the set!
ISBN 0-333-71093-2
Published in 1999 by Macmillan Children's books.
RRP £5.99
Paperback - 26 pages
Available from Amazon for £3.99 or Amazon marketplace - used ...
Product Information for "The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Children's
Title
The Gruffalo's Child
Author
Julia Donaldson
ISBN
0142407542; 0803730098; 1405020458; 1405020466
Manufacturer's product description
The Gruffalo said that no gruffalo should Ever set foot in the deep dark wood. But one wild and windy night the Gruffalo's child ignores her father's warning and tiptoes out into the snow. After all, the Big Bad Mouse doesn't really exist...does he? Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler are on dazzling form in this captivating sequel to the much-loved classic picture book The Gruffalo.
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