The Gruffalo: A monster turns 20
A German museum celebrates the 20th birthday of a book about a hungry monster and a clever mouse, a story beloved by children all over the world.
Hungry Gruffalo, wily mouse
"A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood" — that is the beginning of a children's book published 20 years ago that has sold 25 million copies, been translated into 85 languages and won numerous awards. The Historic Museum of the Palatinate in Speyer honors the beloved monster's birthday with 38 original graphics by illustrator Axel Scheffler — and various fun events for children.
Cuddly with claws
The Gruffalo is a creature of the forest with "terrible claws, and terrible teeth in its terrible jaws ... [and] knobbly knees, and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of its nose." The editors felt Scheffler's early sketches were far too scary for young children, so he "made it rounder, more cuddly-looking," the illustrator remembers.
A creative British-German duo
"I feel a bit like the mouse in the book that conjures an imaginary monster — and then meets it," writer Julia Donaldson says of the time when she happens on the Gruffalo. The British writer and the German illustrator are a successful team: The above drawing by Scheffler shows the clumsy little dragon Zog, the protagonist in Donaldson's 2010 book of the same name.
Award-winning film star
In 2004 Donaldsen and Scheffler wrote a sequel to "The Gruffalo" called "The Gruffalo's Child." Then in 2009, the bestselling original became a computer animated film about a group of forest-dwelling animals: mouse, fox, snake, owl — and the frightening Gruffalo. It won numerous film awards. A movie sequel based on "The Gruffalo's Child" followed in 2011, featuring the same animated style.
Interactive fun
At the Speyer museum, young visitors are encouraged to dress up as monster and mouse, act out scenes from the story, or even devise and cook fanciful dishes like "gruffalo jello" and "snake puree." The exhibtion runs from to December 22 to June 14, 2020.