Julia Donaldson has announced a third book in the beloved Gruffalo series, which she says she’s been thinking about for two years, despite many believing it would never happen
A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood – a fox saw the mouse and thought: ‘Are we getting another Gruffalo book?’ Over 20 years after Julia Donaldson last wrote about her beloved creature, she has announced a third Gruffalo story.
Speaking BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the children’s writer shared the news. She said: “It’s called Gruffalo Granny… I’ve had this idea for the best part of two decades but I’ve been so busy writing other things. Now I’m a granny. I’ve got nine grandchildren so I guess that’s spurred me on.”
Gruffalo Granny is set to be released on 10 September in hardback and as an audiobook. It will introduce a new family member, after the 2004 sequel to the 1999 hit introduced the Gruffalo’s child. Publisher Macmillan has promised that old favourites from the first two books will return for “an exciting new adventure”.
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The third in the series will be illustrated by Axel Scheffler, just like the first two were. He shared that he never thought they would return to the world of the Gruffalo.
“I’ve been saying for over 20 years there won’t be a sequel and it’s taught me to never say never. It was a complete surprise for me, but Julia came up with such a wonderful story.”
An illustration of the new character will be released later on Friday (6 February). One line is already known, which says: “The Gruffalo said to his daughter one day, ‘Your Gruffalo granny is coming to stay’.” It comes 22 years after the Gruffalo was last written about, and 27 after he was first introduced.
Both The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child are children’s picture books, written in rhyming couplets. The original book follows a mouse who survives not being eaten by the other woodland creatures by scaring them with stories of a big monster with features including “terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws”.
The books have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide and have been translated into over 100 languages and dialects. In a statement announcing the third book, Julia said: “I actually had the basic idea for the story a long time ago, but couldn’t think how to develop it.
“It was only when the National Literacy Trust, whose work I’m very impressed by, used the first two books as part of their Early Words Matter programme that I was spurred on to get my idea out of the cupboard and see once and for all if I could turn it into a really satisfying story. To my surprise, I managed to do just that!”
She added that she was “delighted” Axel had returned to the series with her and hoped that “children – and adults too – will enjoy the new story”.
17 years ago, the original story was adapted into an animated short for BBC One, with James Corden, Rob Brydon and Helena Bonham Carter among those voicing the characters. The short was nominated for an Oscar. Two years later, The Gruffalo’s Child was also adapted and earned a BAFTA nomination.
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