The Gruffalo's Child
by Julia Donaldson
★ Top 25 book of 2004 · #22 on Best Books of 2004
A young Gruffalo's child sets off to look for the Big Bad Mouse she has heard so much about. It is a brief, adventurous outing in the style of the original Gruffalo tale.
Best for: Young children and parents looking for a short story to read aloud
The Gruffalo's Child is #22 on BookWard's Best Books of 2004, out of 48 2004 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Gruffalo's Child is about
A small daughter of the Gruffalo is told to stay out of the wood. She goes anyway, wanting to find the 'big bad mouse' her father fears. He cannot recall what the mouse looks like and calls him a monster, so she sets off into the wood on a winter journey to see for herself.
Along the way she finds the tracks of the snake, owl and fox, and each one points her toward the mouse. When she meets him, he uses the moonlight to throw a vast, scary shadow. Julia Donaldson's rhyming text and Axel Scheffler's pictures give the sequel the same bouncy rhythm and the same cheerful lesson, that wit beats strength. It is a good fit for reading aloud to young children.
The Gruffalo's Child on the Best Books of 2004
The Gruffalo's Child came out in 2004. Of the 48 books first published in 2004 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #22 on our Best Books of 2004 list.
Why it made the list: 196 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.9 out of 5 (11 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2004 list
- Knuffle Bunny Mo Willems, #20
- Going Postal Terry Pratchett, #21
- Confessions of an Economic Hit Man Perkins, John, #23
See all Best Books of 2004 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2003 Best Books of 2005.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 162 want to read it, 4 are reading it now and 30 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.9 out of 5 from 11 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 42 | 55% |
| Reader love | 96 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 15 | 20% |
Questions about The Gruffalo's Child
When was The Gruffalo's Child published?
The Gruffalo's Child by Julia Donaldson was first published in 2004.
Was The Gruffalo's Child one of the best books of 2004?
The Gruffalo's Child is #22 on BookWard's Best Books of 2004, out of 48 2004 books that cleared our data bar. 196 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.9 out of 5 (11 ratings).
Why is The Gruffalo's Child on the Best Books of 2004 list?
196 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.9 out of 5 (11 ratings).
More of the best books of 2004
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeffry P. Lindsay, #1
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens Robert T. Kiyosaki, #2
- The Ruins of Gorlan John Flanagan, #3
- Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow, #4
- Blink Malcolm Gladwell, #5
- She Comes First Ian Kerner, #6
See the full Best Books of 2004, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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