The Gruffalo Review: My Experience Reading It With My Child

 

A very famous book by a very well-known author probably doesn't need another review from me. Instead, I thought I'd share what it was like reading The Gruffalo with my child.

The story is about a clever little mouse walking through the forest. He meets a fox, an owl and a snake, and all three seem rather interested in having him for lunch. So the mouse comes up with a story about a scary creature called the Gruffalo and tells each of them that he is off to meet him. That is enough to make all three animals run away.

The mouse is quite pleased with himself and carries on through the forest, only to find that the creature he had just invented is actually real.

But even then, he doesn't panic. He quickly comes up with another plan and uses the other animals' fear of the Gruffalo to get himself out of trouble once again.

My daughter first read the book on her own and really enjoyed the rhyming lines. She then spent quite a bit of time looking at Axel Scheffler's illustrations. They are warm and expressive, and the forest and the Gruffalo both feel real without making the book too scary. There are also lots of little details in the pictures, and she kept stopping to point them out.

But when I asked her to tell me the story, I realised she hadn't understood one rather important part.

She had taken the fox, owl and snake's invitations at face value. To her, they were simply asking the little mouse to come home with them. She explained that the mouse kept refusing because perhaps he didn't have time!

She hadn't realised that they were actually trying to lure him home so they could eat him.

So I read the story aloud to her and explained what was really going on. Once she understood it, she enjoyed the story all over again.

It was also a nice reminder that something which seems completely obvious to us isn't always obvious to a young child. Sometimes they understand the words perfectly but miss what is happening underneath them.

Just like many Julia Donaldson stories, The Gruffalo was an instant hit with her. After reading it together, she wanted a copy of her own to keep in her collection.

And so I did.

If your child keeps asking for Julia Donaldson stories, I’ve also put together a list of 7 Julia Donaldson books kids want to read every night.

Final Thoughts

The Gruffalo is a funny and clever story with lovely rhymes, expressive illustrations and just enough suspense to keep young children interested. I also liked that it gave us something to talk about after reading it. What seemed obvious to me wasn't quite so obvious to her, and that made the second reading even more interesting.