- Comedy
- The Gruffalo collection
- Ages 3–7
The Gruffalo
Part of the collectionThe Gruffalo→Modern classics for two-to-seven: rhythmic, funny, a little bit spooky, and made to be read aloud again and again.
- Books3
- Arcs1
- Span2016–2026
- StatusOngoing
The series
At a glance.
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's deep-dark-wood picture books, published by Macmillan Children's Books. Each is built on the same brilliant compact structure: the smallest, cleverest creature outwits everyone through verbal wit, timing and nerve, wrapped in performable, escalating rhyme that children learn by heart. The Gruffalo turns a made-up monster into a real one; The Gruffalo's Child reverses the trick a generation on, sending the monster's daughter into the snow after the Big Bad Mouse; and Gruffalo Granny, the first new story in more than twenty years, brings the Gruffalo's mother to the wood. Scheffler's illustrations keep the wood cosy rather than genuinely frightening, so the suspense stays exciting instead of scary. Among the finest gateway read-alouds in print.
Modern classics for two-to-seven: rhythmic, funny, a little bit spooky, and made to be read aloud again and again.
Primary themes
Overall tone
- Funny
- Warm
- Suspenseful
- Cosy
The Gruffalo comes first and is the natural entry point. The Gruffalo's Child is best read after it but stands alone; Gruffalo Granny is the newest and returns to the same family and wood. Each works independently.
One arc
The shape of the series.
- IStandalone collection arcLow sensitivity
The deep dark wood
Three standalone deep-dark-wood picture books following the Gruffalo, his child and his granny, in Donaldson and Scheffler's bouncing rhyme.
Three self-contained stories set in the same wood and around the same monster family, loosely tracing a generational arc from the Gruffalo, to his child, to his granny. Each stands entirely alone. The first is the trickster tale that started it all, a mouse who invents a monster and then meets it; the second is a snowy, slightly spookier reversal in which the Gruffalo's Child goes looking for the mouse; the third is the warmest and most family-centred, welcoming a new grandmother to the wood. Across all three, Donaldson's escalating rhyme and Scheffler's cosy-but-characterful art keep the register funny and gently suspenseful rather than frightening, and every book rewards being read aloud on repeat.
Fit check
Right for your reader?
Where the series lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- 15
- 17
- 19
- Best fit · 3–7
- Read aloud · 2–7
- Independent · 5–7
Reluctant-reader friendliness
Very high
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Adult crossover
High
Grows with the reader
Designed to
Sensitivity envelope
Low overall, and consistent.
Where it sits
In conversation with other series.
About the author