Gruffalo Granny

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The Gruffalo and the Gruffalo’s Child are getting ready for a visit from Gruffalo Granny!

Will they get the better of the little brown mouse this time and serve Granny a delicious bowl of mouse stew – or will Mouse manage to outwit them once again?

English:

Before you read the book, look at the front cover. What do you think might happen?
Compare this book to the original stories (The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child). Which do you prefer? Why?
Write character profiles for the Gruffalo, the Gruffalo’s child, Gruffalo Granny and / or the little brown mouse.
Retell the story in the first person, from the point of view of one of the characters. How will their viewpoints differ?
Write a detailed description of the deep, dark wood using all of your senses.
Make a list of the rhyming words in the book. Can you think of other words that rhyme with them?
Think of some speech / thought bubbles to accompany the illustrations.
Rewrite some of the speech using indirect speech.
Make a list of similarities and differences between the three Gruffalo characters.
Write a newspaper article for the forest animals about the Gruffalo Granny’s arrival.
Create a recipe for a vegetarian meal that Gruffalo Granny might enjoy.
Make a new page for the book in which the mouse tells the Gruffalos a different story.
Explore the use of different types of punctuation in the book. Why have they been used in different places?
Write a diary page from Gruffalo Granny’s point of view, describing her journey to see her family and the meal that greeted her when she arrived.
Imagine a conversation between the little brown mouse and the Gruffalo Granny. What might they say to each other?
Write an alternative ending to the story.
Try a variety of different activities at Gruffalo.com

Maths:

Create a timeline that retells the story. Which events happened on which days?
Make a map of the forest on a coordinate grid and challenge friends to find the coordinates of different animals and objects on it.
Find a recipe for a stew and look at the different types of measurements.
Conduct a survey with your friends to find their favourite Gruffalo story.

Science:

Choose one forest animal and write a report about it. What do they eat? How are they adapted to life in the forest?
Make a food chain / web based on a forest habitat.

Computing:

Make an audio or video advert to promote this book.
Create a game in which the little brown mouse has to escape from the Gruffalo.
Make an animation of the characters moving.
Record a narrated version of this story. Here is an example:

Design Technology:

Could you make a model of the Gruffalo Granny?
The Gruffalos live in a cave. Could you design a nicer shelter for them to live in?
Plan and make a healthy Gruffalo picnic for Granny to have on her journey home.
Make some puppets to represent the characters in the story.

Art:

Draw your own illustrations of the characters in the book.
Draw a picture of what you think a Gruffalo Grandad might look like.
Make some portraits of the Gruffalo characters to hang in their cave.

Music:

Compose a melody for an advert to promote the book.
Choose a few of the rhyming verses in the story and make a tune to accompany them.
Learn how to perform The Gruffalo Song with Makaton signs by following this video:

Geography:

Draw a map of the locations in the story and add labels to show what happened in each place.
Write some directions to help Granny find her way to the Gruffalo’s cave.
The Gruffalo inspired a ride at Chessington World of Adventures. Plan a route there from your school or home. How long will the journey take?

History:

The Gruffalo was first published in 1999. How was life similar / different then compared to today?
Create a Gruffalo family tree and compare it with your own.

PSHE:

Discuss family relationships and how our family members can help us.
Explore how the Gruffalo and the Gruffalo Child feel at different points in the story. Make a list of feeling words.

Book Julia Donaldson