Review - The Gruffalo

This is the story of a little brown mouse in a deep dark wood, who must overcome the brute force of creatures that want to eat him. This is the story of The Gruffalo.

Picture book binge?
A little bit. If you've been following me on Twitter, you'll know I read three picture books today. In fact, if you read my review of Library Lion, you'll know I'll be doing this a lot in the future. Three reviews of picture books a week, plus my usual service. This is the way forward? Let's pretend it is.

So, what did you think of the book?
It was by far my favourite of the day. The mouse is a funny little character, the book has a funny little rhyming scheme and there's a great moral to the story!

We'll start there, then: who are the characters of the story?
Okay, we have the mouse, the fox, the owl, the snake and the gruffalo. All are important. The mouse is the smallest of them all, and yet he's the smartest, too. He scares off the other creatures with the story of the gruffalo and how mighty it is. I won't tell you what happens after that. That'd ruin the book, because I know you really want to read it. No really, you do. Just to see what the mouse does. Plus, you know, your kids will love it.

What about the pictures? Pictures are pretty!
Well, what would a picture book be without pictures? The Gruffalo is filled with bright, cheery pictures; they're not too complicated, but what they lack in overly intricate detail they make up for in brightness and colour. Definitely the most appealing to the eye of all the picture books from the July 31st Story Time!

What's the moral of this story, then?
Think about it. Got it yet? Okay, look at the mouse. Nice, small mouse. Then, look at the other animals. Vicious, big animals, ready to eat the mouse within a second. And yet, the mouse comes out on top. He scares them all away. Smart, little mouse. So, the moral - the smart, small guy can still win. You know who are smart and small? Children. Smarter than you realise, and smaller than you. They'll like that the mouse won, because some part of them will realise that they're the mouse. They're the creature that seems to get picked on.

Definitely recommended, so?
Oh yes! If you don't buy it, read it and love it, I'd be very surprised!