Monday 4 October 2010

The Gruffalo's Child

The Gruffalo's Child

Written by Julia Donaldson

Illustrated by Axel Scheffler


Published by MacMillan Children's Books

Writing a sequel to one of the most well received and best loved modern classic children's books must've been a daunting task. I half expected "The Gruffalo's Child" to be a bit of a miss with Charlotte but it seems she actually prefers the antics of the Gruffalo's mischievous daughter more than she enjoyed the original book. Possibly because she identifies more with the toddler Gruffalo and her antics. 
Ignoring her dad's advice (common behaviour for daughters, so it seems), The Gruffalo Child ventures into the deep dark wood in search of the scary and terrible mouse. 
The rest plays out in the trademark perfect rhyming couplets Donaldson is famous for, and of course Axel Schiffler's illustrations are as superb as they were in the original Gruffalo book. 
One thing crosses my mind though. The mouse really could do with knocking down a peg or two. Anyone with me in hoping that the next Gruffalo book features the mouse between two slices of bread on page one?

Charlotte's best bit: The Gruffalo Child's stick man toy

Daddy's favourite bit: Mouse's near squeak with being a dinner, again. 
Rating: 5 out of 5