Donaldson has said that the story of The Gruffalo was inspired by a Chinese folk tale known as "The Fox that Borrows the Terror of a Tiger" [22] [23] (狐假虎威 [24]).The folk tale is about a hungry tiger who tries to catch a fox. The fox is clever and tells the tiger that God has made the fox king of all animals. Whilst accompanying the fox, the tiger notices that other animals run away in fear. Not realising that they are actually running away from the tiger, the tiger believes that fox is indeed a feared king. [23] Donaldson was originally going to have the beast in her book be a tiger, but was unable to think of rhymes for "tiger" so instead invented a new word—"gruffalo". [23] Walford Timber help bring The Gruffalo to Dean Heritage Centre!". Walford Timber. 21 March 2012 . Retrieved 28 August 2022.

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a b c Franklin-Wallis, Oliver (17 December 2020). "How Julia Donaldson conquered the world, one rhyme at a time". The Guardian . Retrieved 24 September 2022.The Gruffalo is an internationally bestselling picture book, a popular stage show, a BAFTA and Oscar-nominated animation – and now the story has been adapted into a fun and accessible pla... Read more Donaldson, Julia (2005). The Gruffalo Song and Other Songs (CD). Macmillan Audio Books. OCLC 63210687. a b c Sweet, Matthew (4 September 2004). "We've Created a Monster". The Independent . Retrieved 21 August 2022. Created by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, the most successful author/illustrator partnership in picture book publishing, The Gruffalo is a modern classic, and both mouse and monster have become stars of stage and screen as well as story-time favourites.

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Calling all nature explorers! Grab your wellies and learn all about the natural world around you with this colourful spotter guide. A mouse walks through a wood and encounters three predators—first a fox, then an owl, and finally a snake. Each of these animals invites the mouse into their home for a meal, the implication being that they intend to eat the mouse. The mouse declines each offer, telling the predators that it plans to dine with a "gruffalo". The mouse then describes the gruffalo's frightening features, such as "terrible tusks, terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws". [9] The mouse tells each predator that they are the gruffalo's favourite food. Frightened that the gruffalo might eat them, each animal flees. Convinced the Gruffalo is fictional, the mouse says:

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The Taiwanese translator of The Gruffalo recommended the book for publication in Taiwanese because he noticed the story bore resemblance to the traditional tale. Teachers have used this translated book to demonstrate a modern retelling of the Chinese folk tale. In an article on the traditional Chinese translation of The Gruffalo in Taiwan, Chen-Wei Yu writes that the "resourcefulness" of the mouse in Donaldson's story represents a Western association with "individual autonomy" and "self-achievement", whereas the fox in the original fable is to be looked down upon because it does not accept its correct place in society nor an individual's obligation to others. [23] This latter interpretation of the story has led the phrase "The Fox that Borrows the Terror of a Tiger" to mean someone who makes use of another person's power for their own gain. [23] Writing style [ edit ] Harper, Paul (21 February 2019). "Gruffalo 50p coin released by Royal Mint: how rare is it?". Which? . Retrieved 3 September 2022. To create a satisfying rhyming scheme for the story, Donaldson tried a few different names for the creature that would eventually become the Gruffalo. [30] The Gruffalo is a short children's story around 700 words long. [25] It is intended to be read aloud as it is written for a target audience of children who do not know or are learning how to read. [26] It is written in rhyming couplets in primarily dactylic tetrameter. This is a relatively uncommon metre, consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables, for instance: [27] Come