My First Gruffalo Books in Order
Part ofJulia Donaldson Books in OrderMy First Gruffalo books are listed here in publication order.
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My First Gruffalo books in publication order
35 books
Fox's Socks
by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
2000
Fox cannot find his socks, so readers lift flaps and search alongside him through the house. Along the way, he discovers plenty of other clothing in this rhyming Acorn Wood board book for toddlers.
Hide-and-Seek Pig
by Julia Donaldson
2000
Hen has hidden from Pig, and young readers can lift the flaps to help him search. This rhyming Acorn Wood board book turns a game of hide-and-seek into an interactive story for toddlers.
Postman Bear
by Julia Donaldson
2000
In this lift-the-flap Acorn Wood board book, Bear sets out to deliver birthday invitations to Frog, Squirrel, and Mole. Young readers open flaps along the way as his friends’ responses lead toward a special surprise.
Rabbit's Nap
by Julia Donaldson
2000
Rabbit is ready for a nap, but a succession of noisy visitors and interruptions makes sleep difficult. This lift-the-flap Acorn Wood board book invites toddlers to follow Rabbit’s increasingly disrupted attempt to doze off.
Tales from Acorn Wood
by Julia Donaldson
2006
This lift-the-flap collection gathers three Tales from Acorn Wood stories: Postman Bear, Hide-and-Seek Pig, and Rabbit’s Nap. Rhyming text and sturdy flaps invite toddlers to follow the animal characters through each short adventure.
Animal Actions
by Julia Donaldson
2011
This toddler board book invites children to copy animal movements alongside Gruffalo characters. Young readers can wriggle like a snake, scamper like a fox, and growl like the Gruffalo while exploring action words.
Colours
by Julia Donaldson
2011
A Gruffalo-themed first-concepts board book that introduces colours through creatures and objects found in nature. Simple examples, such as an orange butterfly and green leaves, give young children a playful way to identify and name colours.
Gruffalo, What Can You See?
by Julia Donaldson
2011
The Gruffalo looks around the Deep Dark Wood and invites young readers to notice what is in view. This simple board book follows his observations of woodland sights, from trees and birds to insects, animals, and a mouse.
Hello Gruffalo!
by Julia Donaldson
2011
A portable Gruffalo board book made for babies and toddlers to take along on outings. It introduces the Gruffalo and characters from the Deep Dark Wood in a compact format fitted with a strap for attaching to a buggy.
Numbers
by Julia Donaldson
2011
A chunky board book that introduces early number concepts with the Gruffalo and other creatures from the Deep Dark Wood. Its brief, visual format is tailored to babies and toddlers beginning to recognize and count numbers.
Opposites
by Julia Donaldson
2011
A sturdy early-learning board book that uses the Gruffalo and familiar inhabitants of the Deep Dark Wood to introduce contrasting ideas. Designed for babies and toddlers, it pairs simple opposites with character-based illustrations.
Tales from Acorn Wood Activity Book
by Julia Donaldson
2011
An activity companion to the Tales from Acorn Wood books, featuring the series’ woodland characters. It supplies reusable stickers alongside colouring pages, games, puzzles, and other hands-on activities for young children.
Can You Count?
by Julia Donaldson
2014
A My First Gruffalo jigsaw board book that builds early counting skills with five puzzles. Children count from one to five alongside Mouse, Snake, Fox, Owl, and the Gruffalo as they fit together the sturdy puzzle pieces.
Can You See?
by Julia Donaldson
2014
A chunky My First Gruffalo jigsaw board book that introduces colours through five simple puzzles. Young children meet familiar woodland characters, assemble four-piece scenes, and look for a colourful object in each completed picture.
The Gruffalo Play
by Julia Donaldson
2014
A child-friendly script adaptation of The Gruffalo, arranged for rehearsals and performance at school or home. Colour-coded parts, staging guidance, group-production advice, activities, and the music and lyrics for the Gruffalo song help young performers bring the woodland story to the stage.
Hide-And-Seek Pig and Postman Bear
by Julia Donaldson
2015
This two-story Acorn Wood volume combines Pig’s hide-and-seek game with Bear’s round of letter deliveries. Lift the flaps to help Pig find Hen, then follow Postman Bear as a special birthday surprise is revealed.
Rabbit's Nap and Fox's Socks
by Julia Donaldson
2015
Two Acorn Wood lift-the-flap tales appear together: Rabbit searches for a peaceful place to sleep, while Fox tries to locate his missing socks. Rhyming text and concealed surprises invite toddlers to take part in both woodland quests.
Spot and Say
by Julia Donaldson
2015
This sturdy tabbed board book sends toddlers into the deep dark wood to find the Gruffalo and other familiar characters. Each page offers simple pictures and words to spot and say, supporting shared play and early vocabulary.
Who Lives Here?
by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
2015
Young children lift the flaps to discover who is hiding around the deep dark wood in this Gruffalo board book. Simple prompts turn familiar animal characters into an interactive guessing game for sharing and naming.
Gruffalo Growl
by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
2016
Mouse travels through the deep dark wood with Snake, Owl, and Fox to discover who is making a growling noise. This preschool board book includes a chunky sound button for young children to press.
The Gruffalo Puppet Book
by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
2017
A preschool-friendly interactive retelling inspired by The Gruffalo. Readers use the included Gruffalo hand puppet while Mouse encounters Fox, Owl, and Snake in the deep dark wood, then explore tactile details such as the Gruffalo’s nose and prickles.
Friends
by Julia Donaldson
2019
A first book about friendship featuring the animal residents of Acorn Wood. Fox and Mouse play dress-up, friends help Squirrel with chores, Pig plays hide-and-seek with Hen, and companions celebrate, sing, and play together.
Opposites
by Julia Donaldson
2019
A first concepts board book set among the animals of Acorn Wood. It introduces opposites through clear pairings, including big and small, happy and sad, awake and asleep, and loud and quiet.
Tales From Acorn Wood Treasury
by Julia Donaldson
2019
This large-format treasury brings together four interactive Acorn Wood lift-the-flap stories: Fox’s Socks, Rabbit’s Nap, Hide-and-Seek Pig, and Postman Bear. Rhyming text and Axel Scheffler’s illustrations invite young children to help the woodland animals with their everyday adventures.
Colours
by Julia Donaldson
2020
A first colors board book featuring the familiar animals of Acorn Wood. Young readers look for details such as Fox’s blue socks, Bear’s red waistcoat, and flowers in Rabbit’s garden while learning to recognize different colors.
Counting
by Julia Donaldson
2020
A first numbers board book set among the familiar animals of Acorn Wood. Children count from one to ten through scenes involving Pig, Fox, Bear, Rabbit, and other characters drawn from the Tales from Acorn Wood stories.
Tales from Acorn Wood Book and Card Game
by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
2020
This Acorn Wood gift set pairs a friendship-themed board book with 32 large character cards. Children meet Bear, Pig, Fox, Rabbit, and their friends, then use the cards for four simple games, including variations on Snap, Go Fish, and matching pairs.
Tales From Acorn Wood Sticker Book
by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
2020
An Acorn Wood activity book featuring Fox, Pig, Bear, Rabbit, and other familiar characters from the lift-the-flap stories. It offers sticker scenes, coloring, matching activities, and more than 400 stickers for children to use while exploring the woodland setting.
The Gruffalo and Friends Activity Case
by Julia Donaldson
2020
This portable activity case gathers puzzles, coloring pages, games, and hundreds of stickers inspired by The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child, The Snail and the Whale, and Room on the Broom. Its books and sticker sheets are packaged for creative fun on the go.
Cat’s Cookbook
by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
2021
In Acorn Wood, Cat wants to learn how to cook and searches the library for a useful book. This rhyming lift-the-flap board book lets toddlers follow her quest and discover the surprise awaiting Cat and her friends.
Squirrel's Snowman
by Julia Donaldson
2021
Squirrel wants to build a snowman in snowy Acorn Wood, but first she and her friends need to gather everything required. This rhyming lift-the-flap board book invites young children to join the wintry search.
Tales from Acorn Wood Make and Do
by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
2021
An Acorn Wood activity book featuring crafts, games, and more than 200 stickers. Young children can make animal masks and puppets, build a simple hide-and-seek game, and spend creative time with Bear, Fox, Rabbit, Pig, and their woodland neighbors.
Badger's Band
by Julia Donaldson
2022
Badger wants to form a band, and his Acorn Wood friends are eager to take part. As Tortoise brings a trumpet and Bear plays piano, young readers lift the flaps to discover which other animals will join the music-making.
Mole's Spectacles
by Julia Donaldson
2022
Mole has misplaced his spectacles and searches his home, garden, and Weasel’s sweetshop without success. Young readers lift the flaps throughout this rhyming Acorn Wood board book to help track down the missing glasses.
Frog's Day Out
by Julia Donaldson
2026
Frog and his friends prepare for a seaside outing, packing sunhats, buckets, and spades before catching a steam train from Acorn Wood station. This rhyming lift-the-flap board book follows their sunny day at the beach.
Series background & context
My First Gruffalo introduces babies and young children to the characters created by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The range takes the mouse, the Gruffalo and their woodland neighbours into short board books and interactive formats. Some focus on an early concept, such as a colour or a number. Others invite children to find a character, feel a texture or join in with a sound. The connection is the familiar world, rather than a plot that runs through every title.
You can choose the book by what a child wants to do with it.
The concept books give the characters a different job from their roles in the original picture-book story. Colours, Numbers, Opposites and Animal Actions use the Gruffalo world to introduce straightforward ideas. The Gruffalo Little Library brings colours, numbers, opposites and animals together in a small set of board books. These offer manageable subjects for looking and talking together. The wood becomes a place to name and compare things, with the illustrations carrying much of what there is to notice.
Other formats put discovering something on the page at the centre. Spot and Say uses tabbed pages and things to identify, while Who Lives Here? includes flaps. Rather than following a long sequence of events, the child can look for a creature and share the discovery with the person reading. A repeated visit to a page can be part of the experience. The format leaves room to pause, point and talk before moving on, so a reading session can follow the child's interest in a particular picture.
The touch-and-feel books add texture to the same setting. They provide another way to meet characters whose shapes are already recognisable from Scheffler's artwork. The puppet editions offer a different kind of participation, allowing a character to become part of the reading. These formats change how the book is used, but they keep the visual link with the mouse's woodland journey. A family can move between them without needing to explain a new cast each time.
Gruffalo Growl follows Mouse through the wood while asking which animal is making a noise. Snake's hiss and Owl's hoot become possibilities on the way to the Gruffalo's growl. Sound buttons make listening and responding part of the book, so the question isn't only answered through words or pictures. For a child interested in animal noises, it offers a clear reason to revisit the creatures.
There isn't a required story order across this range.
Start with a concept book, a textured page or a sound title according to the child's interests. The original The Gruffalo remains the fuller picture-book story behind these introductions, but My First Gruffalo offers smaller encounters with its world. The tone is playful and inviting, using familiar characters as the starting point for shared attention, simple questions and the pleasure of finding something again.
Edited by
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