View source for Gruffalo Crumble and Other Recipes by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

{{infobox1
|title=Gruffalo Crumble and Other Recipes
|author=Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
|reviewer=Sam Tyler
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=What does a Gruffalo eat for tea?  Now you can find out and make it yourself in this cook book that is designed for adults and children to cook together as they create recipes based on the beloved franchise.
|rating=4
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=64
|publisher=Macmillan Children's Books
|date=September 2016
|isbn=9781509804740
|website=http://www.gruffalo.com/world-of/books/gruffalo-books/gruffalo-crumble-and-other-recipes/
|cover=Donaldson_Recipes
|aznuk=1509804749
|aznus=1509804749
}}

It is hard to imagine, but the original Gruffalo book came out almost twenty years ago.  This is a franchise that just keeps rolling on.  Certainly, you can buy the book or the sequel, but if you visit a shop you will find Gruffalo toys, cards, even egg cups.  Each year brings with it a new idea of how to push the Gruf and pals.  2016 is the year of the recipe book, but will it live up to the quality of the original?

The Gruffalo has a very odd palette; many of us may be meat eaters, but not many of us eat it raw or in the form of a mouse or frog!  The idea of eating the same things as a hairy beast does not appeal at first, but what if each dish was actually a fun recipe that you could make together?  Mouse toast or Frog Muffins, yummy!

Sharing cookbooks like ''Gruffalo Crumble and Other Recipes'' are great on a rainy day as they allow you to use up some much needed time (and random ingredients) partaking in a family activity.  ''Crumble'' contains plenty of recipes that cover everything from breakfast through to pudding.  Some are pretty easy, whilst others can be tricky, but what is great is that they all require a little more creativity than your usual run of the mill cooking.

The Mouse Toast could have simply been a fried egg on toast, but it is much more than this.  The designers of this cookbook have taken the characters of the ''Gruffalo'' books and made something edible with them.  To make this toast you need to cut a mouse shape out of some toast, then fry an egg in the middle and then add olives and chives to make it look like a mouse's face.  This may all seem simple enough, but there is so much more fun to be had creating a meal that looks like a mouse, than just egg and bread.

There are loads of other ideas like this in ''Crumble'', including a rather magnificent chocolate cake.  Each recipe has a photo showing what the finished product should look like and the steps are split into elements that an adult should do e.g. slicing and dicing, and the elements a child can do i.e. decorating.  The steps can be a little too simple at times as the book is set out to be easy to read; this does mean that a little bit of winging it may be required as you think exactly how you are meant to chop or mix something.

''Crumble'' had a good chance of feeling like an empty cash in and although it does not have the full charm of the core text, it is still worthy of the brand.  I am not sure of the level of involvement Donaldson and Scheffler had in the making of this book, but the themes and illustrations throughout stay true.  This is certainly more of a recipe book, than a ''Gruffalo'' book, it even comes with ring binding to make it easy to use in the Kitchen, but a lot of thought has gone into the food that you can make so that it reflects the original story and sparks culinary curiosity in a child.  A kid who is Gruffalo mad will love making these meals with the help of an adult, whilst those new to the franchise will still gain a lot from the clever ideas on offer.   

Before embarking on the cookbook, perhaps you should read the  [[The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson|inspiration]]?  Older cooks with a literary bent will appreciate [[Mma Ramotswe's Cookbook by Stuart Brown]] whilst younger eaters will enjoy [[Mmm...Let's Eat! by Libby Koponen]].

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[[Category:Julia Donaldson]]
[[Category:Axel Scheffler]]
[[Category:Cookery]]