Synopsis – A mouse goes for a stroll on the deep dark wood, but an owl, a snake and a fox stop it in its tracks. When it describes a creature, the Gruffalo, they let the mouse go. How will the mouse and the wood react when the Gruffalo appears?

My thoughts – The illustrations are bright and eye-catching, and help children to imagine what the Gruffalo looks like and to understand the story better. There are lots of rhymes in the book which helps to give the book a nice flow when reading. I really enjoy reading this book with children and they love it too. It’s a fun book to share with children and helps to promote a love of reading.

Classroom ideas- There is a lot of repetition in the book, giving pupils opportunities to join in with the storytelling. You could do activities with rhymes, such as matching the rhymes or making sentences with the rhymes in the book. The children could create a map of the story and use it to retell the story of the Gruffalo to their peers. The children could act out the book using puppets or props and costumes which will help them to understand the plot better. You could use it as a stimulus to start a topic about habitats, focusing on the woods. You could take the class to the woods to act out the book or hunt for the Gruffalo. The children could make their own puppets to act out the story in small groups.