The Gruffalo

Title: The Gruffalo
Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler
Ages: 3-5
Rating: 5/5

Plot: During his walk through the woods Mouse meets animals in the forest who would like to have him for dinner. But the clever mouse tells each of them about his new friend the awful Gruffalo. This story allows Mouse to wander the forest safely until he meets an actual Gruffalo!

Assessment: The repetition in this story would help children to recognize it as a cycle so that they might look forward to the next section. The loose rhyme throughout the story is also a fun aspect that makes this an excellent book to read aloud.

Each time the Mouse describes the Gruffalo, he adds a new set of scary features -children could have fun acting out the "terrible claws" or the "poisonous wart at the end of his nose." The piece-meal illustrations help to add suspense, but the cartoon illustrations and the story ensure that it is much more silly than scary.

Donaldson, J.(1999). The Gruffalo. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam.