When my two kids – now teens – were growing up, one of their favourite bedtime reads was The Gruffalo, quickly followed by The Gruffalo’s Child and now it seems I may soon have reason to grab then soon, tuck them in – whether they want to or not – and read a new chapter in the story to them.
Writer Julia Donaldson and artist Axel Scheffler have revealed they are coming together or a new Gruffalo book, over 20 years since they last visited that world with The Gruffalo’s Child.
The new book, as yet untitled, is due in September 2026
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“It’s always a challenge to write a sequel,” Donaldson said, “Five years elapsed between publication of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, and now it will be more than 20 between The Gruffalo’s Child and the third book. I actually had the basic idea for the story a long time ago, but couldn’t think how to develop it.”
Explaining that it was when her first two books became part of the Early Words Matter programme, that she was convinced to dive back in and see if she could bring the story to life and, thankfully, she could: “I was of course delighted when Axel came on board, and am even more so now that I’ve seen the brilliant sketches he’s already done for the new book. I really hope that children – and adults too – will enjoy the new story, as I know what a wonderful experience shared reading can be.”
Scheffler said that whenever he was asked about another Gruffalo book, he would always say it wasn’t happening but thankfully he was wrong: “Till one day out of the blue there came a wonderfully clever and inspired new text by Julia. How does she do this? Could I decline? Of course not. As I have had to draw the odd Gruffalo and his daughter over the past 20 years, I’m not completely out of practice.”
So there you have, next September we will once again be heading into the deep, dark woods and I can’t wait to have a fun night sharing the adventure with my grown up – and no doubt bored looking at the time – kids.
Are you a fan of The Gruffalo books? I want to know your thoughts, guys…
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Source: The Bookseller
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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