Macmillan, 1999.

First edition. Original publisher's laminated pictorial paper covered boards decorated in a wraparound design by Axel Scheffler. Pictorial endpapers. Illustrated in colour throughout by Scheffler. A very good copy indeed with a little wear to the base of the spine and corners and occasional lightly creased page.

The author's most famous work, the first edition of which has become the scarcest and most keenly sought of all modern children's literature.
The idea for the book was suggested to Donaldson by her publisher in 1994. The year before Methuen had published A Squash and a Squeeze, based on a song written for BBC Children's Television and they now suggested something based on a folk story. Donaldson unearthed a Chinese fable about a girl who escapes being eaten by a tiger by claiming to be the fearsome Queen of the Jungle and inviting him to walk behind her. The tiger misinterprets the terror of the various animals they meet as being related to her rather than him, and flees. She painstakingly adapted the fable for a wood in the English countryside, creating a fictitious monster, revising frequently until the final draft was sent to Reid Books, who had taken over Methuen's Children's Books. It supposedly sat on the desk of an editor for over a year, before Donaldson sent the manuscript to Axel Sheffler, who had illustrated her first book. He in turn showed it to Macmillan who agreed to publish it on the spot.
Success wasn't immediate, but sales were steady and grew persistently and before long the book developed into a best seller and then a modern classic, selling over 13 million copies worldwide in over 100 languages.
Why the first edition should be quite so scarce is hard to fathom. It is an order of magnitude scarcer than the hardback issue of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which is known to be issued in an edition of 500 copies. It is reasonable to assume the initial printing would have been small and it was issued simultaneously in hardback and paperback. It is likely that the majority of hardback issues would have been sold to school or public libraries to be read into oblivion, and the paperback copies would have been heavily handled by the young audience at which it is aimed. Whatever the reasons, despite worldwide demand among collectors, first editions of The Gruffalo appear in commerce less frequently than any other modern collectable children's book.

Stock ID: 44147

Register interest Add to favourites