 Front cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Julia Donaldson |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Axel Scheffler |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's fantasy |
| Publisher | Macmillan (UK)/Viking Children's Books (US) |
Publication date | 23 March 1999 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Pages | 32 |
| ISBN | 0-333-71093-2 |
| OCLC | 59379845 |
| Followed by | The Gruffalo's Child |
| Website | gruffalo |
The Gruffalo is a British children's picture book by author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It tells the story of a mouse taking a walk in the woods and deceiving different predators, including the Gruffalo. The Gruffalo was first published in 1999 in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Children's Books. It is about 700 words long and is written in rhyming couplets featuring repetitive verse. It is an example of a trickster story and was inspired by a Chinese folk tale called "The Fox that Borrows the Terror of a Tiger". The Gruffalo has sold over 13.5 million copies and has won several prizes for children's literature including the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize.
It has been adapted into plays and an Oscar-nominated animated film. The book has inspired a range of merchandise, a commemorative coin, a theme park ride in Chessington World of Adventures, and a series of woodland trails. In 2004, The Gruffalo was followed by a sequel—The Gruffalo's Child—also written by Donaldson and illustrated by Scheffler.