The Big Bad Mouse! (The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson)

Member Name: rhiannon134

Product:	The Gruffalo's Child - Julia Donaldson
Date:	07/11/09 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Another lovely book from the creators of The Gruffalo. The Gruffalo's child is really cute!

Disadvantages: Not as good as the original.

The Gruffalo's Child is the sequel to The Gruffalo, a now very famous and favourite children's book which the other day won the BBC Radio 2 Best Bedtime Story award. The Gruffalo books are written by the highly talented children's author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by the equally brilliant Alex Scheffler.

The Gruffalo's Child features our friend the Mouse, the Gruffalo and a new addition, the Gruffalo's child. This story is set a little further along in time than the first one and begins with the Gruffalo telling his daughter all about the Big Bad Mouse, in order to stop her straying into the Deep Dark Woord. This is the same mouse that tricked the Gruffalo in the first book into thinking it is fiercesome and scary (when of course we know he is harmless). The Gruffalo seems to be losing his memory a little with age however and the description he gives his daughter is of a very formidable looking mouse
"His eyes are like pools of terrible fire
and his terrible whiskers are tougher than wire."

Donaldson's characteristic rhyming style is again used to emphasise her descriptions and fire the imagination of the reader, while giving the story a lovely flow and rhythm.

One night, when the Gruffalo is sleeping, the Gruffalo's child decides she is bored and wants to explore the woods, she isn't scared of the Big Bad Mouse. The Gruffalo's child finds tracks in the snow and follows them, wondering if they belong to the Mouse and eager to find out.

As the Gruffalo's child wanders on into the woods, following the tracks, she meets the characters from the first book. She begins to belive there is no such thing as a Big Bad Mouse but each time the Gruffalo's child is met by one of the other creatures and not the Mouse, they tell her the Mouse is nearby and even "drinking Gruffalo tea."

Their attempts to scare her off don't work and she carries on into the woods, finally coming across a little mouse, who doesn't look scary at all and in fact seems like it would make a rather nice snack!

Is this the end for the plucky little mouse or will he use his cunning to trick his way out of being eaten for a second time?


My husband and I had been eagerly awaiting this book since I ordered it last week. Our two sons couldn't wait to hear it so this was tonight's bedtime story.
Like all of Donaldson's books this makes a great bedtime story and the writing style makes it easy to read, it's a good lenght and the illustrations are lovely to share with children.

However, after loving The Gruffalo so much I have to admit we were all a little dissapointed, but only because the original is such a hard act to follow. As a book on it's own it has no faults really but it will never be as good as the Gruffalo and in fact I think it was quite brave of the creators to make a sequel.

I did find that the rhyme and flow, while still good, were not quite as brilliant as that of the first book, or indeed my other favourite or theirs, Room On The Broom. The beginning and end don't seem to be as well written, though the middle is great where the creatures from the first book come in to this one and this will still become regular bedtime story in our house.


This is definitely a must have book for all fans of The Gruffalo and will make a lovely addition to any child's library.

Summary: A great book for Gruffalo lovers!