So, the 2 younger monkies and me are going to have a great time tomorrow!!
The Gruffalo
The Gruffalo is a mouse. The story of the mouse's walk through the woods unfolds in two phases; in both, the mouse uses cunning to evade danger.
On his way the mouse encounters several dangerous animals (a fox, an owl, and a snake). Each of these animals, clearly intent on eating the mouse, invites him back to their home for a meal. The cunning mouse declines each offer. To dissuade further advances, he tells each animal that he has plans to dine with his friend, a gruffalo, whose favorite food happens to be the relevant animal, and describes the features of the gruffalo's monstrous anatomy. Frightened that the gruffalo might eat it, each animal flees. Knowing the gruffalo to be fictional, the mouse gloats, thusly:
Silly old fox/owl/snake, doesn't he know?
there's no such thing as a gruffalo!
After being quit of the last animal, the mouse is shocked to encounter a real gruffalo – with all the frightening features the mouse thought that he was inventing. The gruffalo threatens to eat the mouse, but again the mouse is cunning: he tells the gruffalo that he, the mouse, is the scariest animal in the forest. Laughing, the gruffalo agrees to follow the mouse as he demonstrates how feared he is. The two walk through the forest, encountering in turn the animals that had earlier menaced the mouse. Each is terrified by the sight of the pair and runs off – and each time the gruffalo becomes more impressed with the mouse's apparent toughness. Exploiting this, the mouse threatens to eat the gruffalo, which flees.
The Gruffalo's Child
The story is about the Gruffalo's daughter who, despite her father's stories, sets off into the woods to discover the 'big bad mouse', which is the only thing her father is afraid of.Throughout her journey, she encounters the snake, the owl, and the fox from The Gruffalo, each of whom tell her where she can find the big bad mouse. Eventually, believing she has been tricked, she gives up, saying that she doesn't believe in the 'big bad mouse'. When it finally appears, she realises it isn't big and bad as her father described.
In order to avoid being eaten, the mouse invites the Gruffalo's daughter to meet the big bad mouse. It then tricks the Gruffalo's daughter by standing on a tree branch to use the moonlight to enlarge its shadow. The Gruffalo's daughter flees, believing the shadow to belong to the real 'big bad mouse'.
It is a typical 'brains over brawn' plot and follows a storyline and rhyming pattern similar to its predecessor, The Gruffalo. It utilizes a Winter setting in order to make use of animal tracks in the snow, allowing the Gruffalo's daughter to encounter the other animals.
