Books for babies: The Gruffalo

Recently I asked my Facebook friends for suggestions for books to order for my girls and I got a lot of good ideas. Of course I remembered some of my favorites from my own childhood but was also looking for any new books that people have enjoyed reading with their kids. I have placed a few orders for books from Amazon and am discovering my preferences as a mom who will be reading and re-reading the same books over and over. Because of this, I have decided to create some posts here on my blog to review the books that I like and those that I don't (I have found that a lot of books that are considered classics really aren't that great). Maybe it will someday be a resource for other new moms looking to create a library for their baby.
I love this book!!!! You need it in your life.
The first book that I have chosen to write about is one that I had never heard of, I think because it might be British and might not be popular in the U.S.? But I LOVE it. Why did no one recommend this story to me???? It was a book that kept popping up on my suggested books on Amazon so I threw it into my basket and I am so glad that I did. Let's talk about The Gruffalo.
The Gruffalo library
First of all, when I am reading aloud to my girls I like books that have a cadence to them, usually helped along by rhyme. I am of course looking for a good story as well and the illustrations (though not exactly the most important at the moment since the girls are more focused on my voice) have got to be good. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson with pictures by Axel Scheffler has all of these things. 

 To give you an idea without giving away too much, the back jacket of the book says:

 "A gruffalo? What's a gruffalo? He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws. But do all those things make him the scariest creature in the deep dark wood? One brave little mouse with a big imagination doesn't think so!"

 The story is really sweet and the illustrations are adorable. The rhythm of the writing makes it easy to read aloud and though I have read it to the girls probably every other night I am still not sick of it. In fact I liked this book so much that I ordered a mini-library of other books by the same author/illustrator team. I will be sure to review the others in the future.

Seriously if you have never read The Gruffalo you need to. Maybe I am the last person on earth to have discovered this book but I love it. I also think this book would be enjoyed by both girls and boys of lots of ages, not just babies and toddlers so get yourself a copy!

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