I recently introduced Noah to Julia Donaldson’s books, and the first two we read were The Gruffalo, and The Gruffalo’s Child.
Noah really enjoyed The Gruffalo, so much so that he spent a lot of time working on the different Gruffalo activities I found online, and was captivated when we watched The Gruffalo in the theatre.
Julia Donaldson uses clever rhymes and simple repetitions to engage her readers, but more importantly, she creates interesting characters, such as the Mouse, which we find ourselves rooting for, as he encounters different predators. I liked how quick-witted the Mouse is, conjuring up what we initially thought was an imaginary animal, to deter the predators from attacking him, and how he outsmarted the Gruffalo when he really appeared!
The Gruffalo
Reading The Gruffalo
Many people told me that I should read The Gruffalo’s Child with Noah too, since he enjoyed The Gruffalo so much, so I ordered a copy for him. I was delighted to see that it provided a different view of the Mouse, from the Gruffalo’s perspective, as told to his child. The Gruffalo’s Child encounters the same three predators as the Mouse did in the previous book, and mistakes them for The Big, Bad Mouse at first, but manages to deduce that they were not him, based on her father’s description. When she finally meets the Mouse, she is surprised that he looked nothing like what she had imagined him to be, and wants to eat him, but the Mouse triumphs once again, by using a simple trick.
For some reason, Noah seems less enthralled by The Gruffalo’s Child, and is more preoccupied with the Stick Man that she’s holding (we read Stick Man as well, and I’ll write about it in another post soon). He also keeps asking me, “Where’s the Gruffalo’s Child’s mummy?” which isn’t the point of the book at all, but I guess that’s how his mind works. Anyway, I found him this free Gruffalo’s Child Jumping Jack craft, so we spent some time working on it together. He was quite amused by how he could move the Gruffalo’s Child’s arms and legs by pulling on the twine, and imitated it as well.
The Gruffalo’s Child
Reading The Gruffalo’s Child
Examining the covers of both books
Working on the Gruffalo’s Child Jumping Jack
The completed Jumping Jack, with what looks like blue poop, thanks to Noah
Playing with it
“Mummy, Gruffalo’s Child says, ‘Hooray!’ like that.”
If you’re looking for well-written books with clever characters and easy to read rhymes, do check out these two books by Julia Donaldson. There are plenty of related crafts that you can do with your children as follow-up activities, and you can find some of them in my previous post here. Happy reading!
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Buy the Books The Gruffalo
on Amazon The Gruffalo (DVD)
on Amazon The Gruffalo on Book Depository The Gruffalo’s Child
on Amazon The Gruffalo’s Child on Book Depository
Borrow the Books The Gruffalo / Junior Lending Picture Book / English – DON [BA] / Check for availability here The Gruffalo’s Child / Junior Lending Picture Book / English – DON [BA] / Check for availability here
*This post contains affiliate links.
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