World's Favourite Monster is Returning
- Editor OGN Daily
- May 5
- 2 min read
Legendary children’s book duo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have announced that they are working on a new Gruffalo book, set to launch in September of this year.
After 20 years, the world’s favourite monster - he of knobbly knees, turned-out toes and wart on his nose - is coming back.
The original Gruffalo stories, The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, were published in 1999 and 2004 and have remained among some of the most popular children’s titles in the world, collectively selling over 5 million copies. It has become a staple of a generation of children’s bedtime routines, spawning films, theatre shows and a huge range of Gruffalo merchandise.
In previous interviews, Donaldson said that she had originally intended the main character in the Gruffalo books to be a tiger but couldn’t think of a good enough rhyme. In the end she decided to create a monster and needed a word of three syllables ending with “oh” and starting with “grrr” and so the gruffalo was born.
Whilst the world was keeping their collective fingers crossed that there would, one day, be another Gruffalo story, Britain's Royal Mint decided to get in on the act. In 2024, The Gruffalo's Child appeared on a new commemorative 50p coin to mark 20 years since the story was first published. The character will follow in the footsteps of her father, the Gruffalo, who appeared on 50p coins in 2019. The new coins did not enter general circulation but were available to buy from The Royal Mint in precious metal finishes, starting at £12. The book's illustrator Axel Scheffler said he was "honoured" that the Gruffalo's offspring was being celebrated, while author Julia Donaldson said it was "wonderful".
NY Library's Most Borrowed Book Over 125 Years: Out of millions of books and dozens of genres, there is one story that sticks out for Brooklynites and beyond. The Brooklyn Public Library, one of America's largest library systems, announced in 2022 the most borrowed books in its quasquicentennial history. Spoiler alert: it wasn't The Gruffalo but a remarkably similar looking character. Any guesses?
