The Gruffalo Book was published in 1999 and is written byJulia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It has sold more than 10.2million copies, won several children’s literature prizes and has even beendeveloped into plays in the West End and Broadway. The Gruffalo tells a storyof a mouse’s journey through the woods.
The Gruffalo as described by the mouse is a cross between agrizzly bear and a buffalo. To us he is a soft, cuddly character who just wantsto be your friend.
As Mouse embarks on his journey he is approached by a fox,owl and snake. He deters these animals from eating him by describing hisfictional (or is he?!) friend the Gruffalo. As each animal is advised by Mousethat Gruffalo loves to eat them, they quickly flee, leaving Mouse to continuewith his journey. When Mouse is almost at the end of his journey he encounters the real Gruffalo, to stop the Gruffalo from eating him Mouse asks him to walk with him through the woods to show him that he should be feared by all. As they walk back through the woods to the fox, owl and snake the Gruffalo can clearly see that all animals fear Mouse. Not knowing why he should be feared, Gruffalo quickly flees, leaving Mouse to continue with his journey.