The Gruffalo

　　小老鼠去散步，穿過又深又黑的森林。狐狸看見牠，假裝好心地邀牠吃午餐。聰明的小老鼠說：「不行，我和Gruffalo有約呢! 你不知道什麼是Gruffalo嗎？告訴你，牠有尖尖的爪子，銳利的牙齒，牠最喜歡的食物就是烤狐狸！」?..小老鼠靠著牠的機智，從容不迫地應付了各種野獸。但是，萬一森林裡真的有Gruffalo呢？

　　這是一則相當具有創意的故事，有點類似中國的寓言故事『狐假虎威』。插畫家想呈現出的Gruffalo雖然有凶惡的外型，卻不失笨拙可愛的味道。全篇句型兩兩押韻，相當好讀，另有很多動物擬聲字，讓故事演說起來更為生動！

Julia Donaldson’s trademark rhyming text and Axel Scheffler’s brilliant, characterful illustrations come together in this perfect read aloud--now available as a board book

When Mouse takes a stroll through the woods, he meets a fox, an owl, and a snake who all want to eat him! So Mouse invents a gruffalo, a monster with ＂terrible tusks and terrible claws, terrible teeth, and terrible jaws.＂ But will Mouse’s frightful description be enough to scare off his foes? After all, there’s no such thing as a gruffalo . . . is there? Sturdy pages and a cozy trim make this rhyming read-aloud perfect for preschoolers. Winner of the prestigious British Smarties Prize.

Julia Donaldson lives in Glasgow, Scotland.