Tuesday 24 September 2013

The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson

The GruffaloThe Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

'Walk further into the deep dark wood, and discover what happens when the quick-thinking mouse comes face to face with an owl, a snake "and "a hungry gruffalo . . . '


As a primary school teacher the Gruffalo is a story that comes up regularly. The children love to listen to the story and it can also be used as an educational tool.

The story is about a little mouse who walks through the forest, along the way he meets many predators. They all want to eat him and suggest they go for a visit at their houses. The little mouse is very clever and warns the predators off by coming up with a creature that he is going to meet. This is the Gruffalo. The little mouse describes the Gruffalo to the animals who in turn disappear, worried that they are going to be in the Gruffalo's belly! This is until the little mouse meets a monster, that looks like the description of the Gruffalo that he created. The little mouse then manages to convince the Gruffalo that he is the smartest animal in the forest and everyone is scared of him.

This is a wonderful tale that teaches children to not judge things by their appearance. There is repetition in the story that the children love to join in with and rhymes. This is a wonderful book to introduce character description to children and for them to create their own monster using description. Children of all ages enjoy reading the Gruffalo, I have used it in classes of 5 - 7 year olds.


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