The picture book “The Gruffalo” was published a quarter of a century ago. It has now become an indispensable part of children’s rooms. How a modern fairy tale conquered the world.
“He has terrible tusks and terrible claws and terrible teeth for chewing animals,” is how a cunning mouse describes his supposedly imaginary friend, the Gruffalo, to get rid of annoying predators. But the Gruffalo really exists – and he is not at all friendly to the mouse. Fortunately, he is not the smartest and can be duped just as easily as a fox, an owl and a snake. That – in a nutshell – is the story of the Gruffalo. The picture book of the same name was first published on March 23, 1999 and has been delighting children all over the world ever since.
The story was written by Brit Julia Donaldson. The man who gave the mythical animal its shape is Axel Scheffler, a German illustrator who has lived in London for many years. According to the British trade publication “The Bookseller”, more than 18 million copies of The Gruffalo and the follow-up book “The Gruffalo Child” have now been sold worldwide. The book has therefore been translated into more than 107 languages and dialects. Scheffler is still very happy about the success. When he talks about it, it almost sounds like he still can’t quite understand it. “On the other hand,” he says in an interview with the German Press Agency, “you are then the Gruffalo illustrator forever.”
“Stick Man”, “Room on the Broom” and many more
Scheffler has hidden a Gruffalo in almost every book. And this despite the fact that the 66-year-old and the extremely busy Donaldson (75) have created many other successful picture books together over the past 25 years. “Stick Man,” for example, is the story of a living stick that goes on an adventurous journey and wants nothing more than to return to its family. Or “Room on the Broom” about a witch who likes to make new friends. But it’s not entirely without his own doing that the Gruffalo seems to be omnipresent: Scheffler has one hidden somewhere in almost every book, just like in the hidden object book.
Scheffler’s drawing style is not characterized by realism, as he himself notes. But he succeeds in giving his characters the expression of an authentic inner life. The man himself also seems authentic. Scheffler is a celebrity in Great Britain; it is now almost a routine for him to meet the literature-loving Queen Camilla. But the Hamburg native doesn’t make much of a fuss about it. He says about his work: “It’s not the way really good illustrators would probably do it.” But perhaps it is precisely the imperfection of his illustrations that appeals to many people, he speculates.
At first the Gruffalo looked even scarier
In any case, the means he uses are extremely simple. He tells children when he visits schools: “I actually use what you use: watercolors and colored pencils and paper.” Only the drawing pen with which he traces the pencil outlines of his figures with a special ink would probably not be found in a school bag. His early sketches of the Gruffalo show that he follows the wishes of authors and publishers in his work process: he initially looked far more frightening than the good-natured-looking animal with orange eyes that emerged in the end.
Films are already part of the British Christmas tradition
Julia Donaldson initially didn’t even think The Gruffalo would ever be published. For her, the great success was a “total surprise,” as she said in an interview with dpa. Now she often meets children who know her stories, which are often written in rhymes, by heart. “There are always parents who think that their children are the only ones in the world who do that. I let them believe that,” she says.
Donaldson, who wrote songs and musicals before turning to children’s books, also finds something musical in her lyrics. In fact, the same pattern is repeated again and again with the Gruffalo, like a refrain, when the mouse gives her excuse about the Gruffalo’s invitation: “The Gruffalo? What kind of animal is that?” “You don’t know it? Then I’ll describe it to you.” She was inspired by a Far Eastern fairy tale – and created a modern one. Several of Donaldson and Scheffler’s books have now been made into films and are even part of the Christmas tradition in Great Britain.
Scheffler now looks worriedly at his old home
The two creators of the Gruffalo work largely independently of each other. Donaldson is always happy when she receives mail from Scheffler because they have such beautiful drawings. A gallery in Konstanz has even dedicated an entire exhibition to the Scheffler letters. The two have in common that they tirelessly visit schools and drum for good causes. These include, for example, children’s literacy and refugee aid.
Scheffler, who followed Brexit and the associated political chaos in his adopted homeland with great regret, is now also looking at his homeland with concern. “I find it unbearable that Jews in Germany can no longer identify themselves or have to be afraid to go to school,” he says of the latest developments in the Federal Republic. He also wouldn’t have thought the rise of the extreme right was possible. In order to make children’s books, you have to have a certain degree of optimism, says Scheffler. But when the Gruffalo appeared 25 years ago, things were easier for him.
Website of the “Turm zur Katz” in Konstanz, where the exhibition “Scheffler’s Pen Pals” can currently be seen. Website of the Macmillan publishing house for the Gruffalo’s 25th anniversary