The Gruffalo - PB Club

If you want to participate but don't have the book, there's a youtube of it here. It shows the pictures and text as a man reads it aloud for his kids. Not as good as having the book in your hands to study, but it's something!

I agree, The Gruffalo is one of the best. Should be required reading for everyone who wants to write a rhyming pb!

The meter and rhyme are perfect. It uses predictability in a delightful way as the mouse goes back through the woods and meets each animal in turn... you know what's coming, and you wait for it. I noticed the "rule of three" as the mouse meets exactly three different predators: the fox, the owl, and the snake--and what a nice assortment of running, flying, and slithering to provide variety!

I love the simple, satisfying ending--the mouse ate a nut, and the nut was good. Reminds me of the end of Where the Wild Things Are. The dangerous adventure is over, and we're back home to safety.

I saw a short animated film based on the book, and it was adorable. I don't know much about picture books, but I agree that the rhyming and use of language in general seemed perfect. The story was great, too--full of danger and suspense, but also cute and clever.

For me, the gruffalo is one of the best books ever written! Though my love for "Room on the broom" , "What the ladybug heard", "Monkey Puzzle" and "The Gruffalo's child", by the same author, come very close.

Things that made this book a winner for me:

* The obvious fabulous rhytm and rhyme. It shouldn't come as a surprise that Julia Donaldson used to sing songs (i think for kids, but not sure), because her texts read as smoothly and natural as songs.
* The apparent simplicity; the story seems very very simple and i love the use of repetition... My daughter loves adding the last words in herself.
* While nowhere an adjective is used to describe the mouse, the characterisation is stellar. The mouse is portrayed as a very smart little fellow who knows how to outsmart those much larger and more dangerous out there.
* I love the underlying message that cleverness can get you very far.
*Already from the first pages on, the reader is drawn into the 'problem' the mouse is facing. It's the same for the other books i read of Julia Donaldson.

Was once arguing online with someone who felt The Gruffalo promoted lying to get yourself out of trouble. I gave him this:

A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.
"Where are you going to, little brown mouse?
Come and have lunch in my underground house."


The mouse thought he'd lie - but decided "I shan't!
In line with the thoughts of Immanuel Kant,
Despite my anxiety, lying's a sin -
Why mortgage my soul just to purchase my skin?"


So he rolled on his back with his legs in the air
And the fox took him back to his underground lair
And if you reckon that story's the best of the two
Then I've spotted a nut; and that nut, mate, is you.

Click to expand...

Torgo, that's hilarious.

I just popped in because I, too, love The Gruffalo. And just about anything this author writes. I was very sad when we lost our copy of Charlie Cook's Favorite Book. And The Giants and the Joneses is a great early reader.

That's great, Torgo!