The Gruffalo (Picture Books)

Product Information

Count down to Christmas with this advent calendar collection of twenty-four mini activity, song and rhyme books, based on the bestselling picture books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler – wi... Read more A fantastic bathtime adventure from the stellar picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson and David Roberts – perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime, or any time at all!<... Read more

Where is Monkey's mummy? It's not too much fun being lost in the jungle, and little monkey wants his mum. Kindly butterfly is keen to help, but they don't seem to ... Read more Hahn, Daniel, ed. (2015). The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (2ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199695140.As well as being the UK's most successful picture book author, Julia Donaldson is a gifted songwriter for children. A Treasury of Songs contains over twenty of her songs, including fun-fille... Read more Celebrate the 20th birthday of the bestselling classic The Snail and the Whale, with this special anniversary edition of the story, including bonus content. Write a report about an imaginary creature. What does it eat? Where does it live? How is it adapted to live in that place?

Axel Scheffler is the best-selling, award-winning illustrator of many of the world’s favourite picture books. Born in Hamburg, Axel moved to England over thirty years ago to study illustration. Perhaps best-known for his collaborations with Julia Donaldson, including the modern classic The Gruffalo, which has sold over 13.5 million copies worldwide and been translated into over 60 languages, Axel has also illustrated novelty titles for younger readers such as Noisy Farm and The Bedtime Bear, as well as the Pip and Posy series. Axel lives in London with his partner and daughter. The text contains a mixture of predictable rhymes (such as mouse-house and wood-good) and unpredictable rhymes (such as toowhoo-flew). It utilises alliteration from the very start (such as "deep, dark woods" in the opening line), which gives more emphasis to the descriptions and helps children remember them easier. [22] [29] The word "terrible" is repeated as an adjective to describe the Gruffalo's features (for example "terrible tusks", "terrible claws"), which Burke writes may remind readers of Where the Wild Things Are—another children's book to use the word. [35] The Gruffalo mainly uses concrete nouns (such as "lake" and "wood") rather than abstract nouns. [22] Illustrations [ edit ] The Gruffalo [ edit ] A magical unicorn adventure, perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime – or any time at all!

Using our Resources

Burke, Michael (2022). "Language and style in The Gruffalo". Language and Literature. 31 (1): 41–61. doi: 10.1177/09639470211072162. S2CID 246372502.

This brilliantly funny animal counting story is perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime – or any time at all! On stage, Donaldson exudes an irresistible, benevolent energy. Young children, she says, make for a perfect audience: “They want to be entertained, and they want to join in.” She and Malcolm still regularly perform on stage and at signings, for which families can queue for hours. (Impatient parents cause more problems than children. “There was one event where people were banging on the windows – it was almost that slightly rioting feel,” Lydia Monks, who has illustrated 18 of Donaldson’s books, told me.)

About This Primary Resource

The Gruffalo Jigsaw Book is in a special novelty board book format, including six twelve-piece jigsaw puzzles which every Gruffalo fan will enjoy! Someone from another publisher happened to see my publishing schedule,” Donaldson told me. “They said: ‘That’s more than the number of books we do altogether – for everyone.’”

It's a Little Baby is a beautiful and engaging lift-the-flap book for little ones from Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb, the creators of the bestselling The Paper Dolls and The ... Read more The books flatter you into thinking that you’re absolutely brilliant at reading,” Martin Pope, the co-founder of Magic Light Pictures, which produces the animated films of Donaldson’s work, told me. “Not only is each line beautifully written so that you can feel the rhythm of it, it’s very clear how to read it, and where the jokes are.” Push, pull and slide the magical moving mechanisms in this brilliant board book to meet all your favourite characters from the bestselling picture book Room on the Broom– and brin... Read moreThere's a commotion in the classroom as Goat and the other animals spend the day at playgroup. The musical instruments and the dressing up box are lots of fun, but - oh dear! - Goat gets into a mud... Read more