The Gruffalo’s Child, very like The Gruffalo, are books we have read over and over again as a family. The Gruffalo’s Child currently gets read most nights before bed and I’d be surprised if these aren’t some of the stories the children remember the most from their childhood in later life.

The clever rhyming, the imagery and the pace of the books make them captivating and also very easy for the children to quickly learn by heart.

The Gruffalo’s Child is currently on tour and whilst this is really exciting, I noticed an instant flaw in the tour times and dates. The show is recommended for children three plus but many of the times are during school hours, surely limiting the audience? There were a couple of school groups present but the others were all pre-school children.

At only 55 minutes long and because it is utterly captivating, I personally think that under threes can get a great deal of pleasure out of it. I think it helps to know the story but I don’t think I’ve met a child yet who hasn’t heard of the Gruffalo.

Here is a little teaser…

You can find details of the tour and tickets here.

Trying to bring a much loved story to life must be a huge challenge but this has been a success in my view. Looking around the theatre, there were faces both young, old and a bit older glued to the stage and people appeared spellbound for much of the performance.

The Gruffalo and Gruffalo’s Child costumes were superb, but I was a bit disappointed with the other costumes. I think I expected them to be proper costumes like the other two, but they were very understated and a bit confusing for the children. The snake had a moustache and was in a silver jacket and grey trousers and the owl didn’t really look like an owl at all.

There were quite a few “what’s that?” from children in the audience and a few “that’s not the owl” shouts as well.

The timing of the performance must have affected ticket sales as the theatre was less than half full.

The music and audience participation was good and well received. There were lots of opportunities to clap along and do some actions, which was lovely and some nice songs in the show as well.

The cast was tiny, only three people, but they were fantastic.

This is a must see for all Gruffalo fans out there, I’m just disappointed it was on during school hours so all the children couldn’t enjoy it.