The Gruffalo’s Child

If you’ve read The Gruffalo, you have to read The Gruffalo’s Child. It’s the sequel to the first book and involves the Gruffalo’s daughter going out into the woods despite being told not to. Sounds like a typical little one doesn’t it.

Again, we meet the mouse and learn about brains trumping brawn.

The book is very similar to the first and if your child was okay listening to that one, you should have no problems with this one.

Book 12 of the PRC: The Gruffalo’s Child

I won’t lie, I was not found of the concept of the Gruffalo and did not want my children reading them. But, they were introduced to them in day care and so I had to read them to understand what they were about.

 

Me reading the books to my kids meant that I could focus on the positives in the stories. I could also make the gruffalo seem less scary but pointing out that he wasn’t smart enough to outsmart the mouse. And while, the mouse may be small, he was able to protect himself using his brains and was ultimately the “hero” of the book.

 

The same is true of the sequel, by focusing on the positives we were able to make the story not scary. I was able to show the kids that thinking and planning could get you out of a tricky situation. It also helped that the mouse got out unscathed in this book too.

The plot

As I said, this story is about the Gruffalo’s daughter not listening to her dad. He had told her not to go into the deep dark wood but she was desperate to find the big bad mouse. Remember – the one her dad was frightened by in book number 1.

 

Off the little Gruffalo goes into the wood. Along the way she meets the same characters her dad met in The Gruffalo. Snake, owl and fox each tell the Gruffalo’s child where to find the mouse but she begins to believe that he doesn’t actually exist. Enter the mouse …

 

Again the little mouse uses his intelligence to avoid being eaten.

 

The Book Itself

Just like its predecessor, the book is perfectly written for younger kids. Although, I still think it may be scary for kids younger than 3. Granted, my youngest was enthralled with the Gruffalo’s Child from 2 years old.

 

The pictures are by Alex Scheffler who is one of my favourite children’s illustrators.

 

For youngsters who are learning to identify words, the book has a lot of easily recognizable words. And, from what I understand, the type of rhyming and repetition that Julia Donaldson is famous for, makes it easier for kids who are learning to read to get started.

 

Other Varieties of the Gruffalo’s Child 

You can get the Gruffalo’s child in softcover and in a board book. And don’t forget the sticker book – there is one of those too. Actually, the Julia Donaldson activities books are actually really nice.

The story is now also available on CD which comes together with a special song. The CDs are really good as they’re narrated by great British actors and actresses.

One thing I don’t know is whether there is a Gruffalo’s Child has a mini-movie like the others that have recently be made. If anyone knows and has a link to that, it would be great if you would share it with us. Just pop it in the comments below or on the AllThingsMomSydney Facebook Page. I love hearing from people who read the blog.

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Our booklist

 

At this stage of the challenge, we have also read: Alphabetical Sydney, A Squash and a Squeeze (also by Julia Donaldson) and Is Your Grandmother a Goanna. For more details on each book and in order to help you decide whether you want to add it to your list, just click on the name of the book and it should take you to the full review.

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NSW Premier Reading Challenge

If you don’t know about the NSW Premier Reading Challenge, it is an initiative by the department of education to promote literacy and reading. It is not a competition!

There is an extensive list of books on the website from which you choose the number of books you have to read. We have to read 30 because my son is in the K – Year 2 Challenge.

Once we read our book we add it to our booklist and if we get to 30 we get a certificate from the Premier.

You can find out more from the NSW PRC Website.