The Gruffalo

#new #storytimewithJen #charactervoices #audiobook #animatedvoices

Welcome back! Thanks for joining me for the second installment of Story Time with Jen. This week has been CRAZY y'all! Like one for the books, BUT my "happy place" is reading and voices so this is how I come back to balance. My personality is the why behind the what...raise your hand if that's you. I bet I drove my parents NUTS always asking "Why?". Now as an adult, I like to share the what behind the why...so here's my WHY!

I picked up the Gruffalo and I'll be honest, it was ALL about the cover...yeah...I know you're not suppose to judge the book by the cover but...we ALL do it?!? Just me? Let's just agree that the cover made me pause and then opening the book...well I was HOOKED! I absolutely LOVE Axel Scheffler's drawings, use of color, and the overall feel of the illustrations. Some books have the story or the illustrations, but this had both for me.

A mouse as a main character is fun and we've seen it a lot throughout books. Nevertheless, the mouse is always solid. This mouse just didn't want to be eaten and I loved that he/she outsmarted all of the other characters. This book has A LOT going on that you could use in a classroom or sitting on the couch with your littles which could bring on some amazing conversations.

Next came the fox. The French Fox - it's because I love alliteration. This fox comes on sly and quickly transfers to a character who is terrified. The owl looked aggressive, but when I really think about an owl, I think of wisdom. In my mind I saw him as "Gandolf-ish" so he had to have the deeper, English accent. Finally, the snake. Well, let's be honest...he doesn't need anything except to let us know that he hissssssssessss and we are good. Now the Gruffalo...This was fun! He has an underbite so I clearly had to do that BUT where he got fun for me is I saw him as a mix between the Grinch (Jim Carrey) and my previous Sylvester McMonkey McBean. I needed the slight southern drawl at first but to change to the "Grinch-ish" character when he realized HE may be at risk.

Overall, I LOVE this story and I hope you do as well. Have a great week! Jen xx