Autistic AF Lists: The Gruffalo

There are a couple of posts that I've made on Instagram that list things I looked into, probably beyond the limit of what a neurotypical person would do. Because I tagged them both with #AutisticAF (and just because I like the hashtag) I'm going with the title of Autistic AF Lists for this mini series that I'm starting here. Listing things and gathering information like this is probably one of the more stereotypical autism traits, but when it's something I find interesting I end up hyperfocusing. I find hidden links, references and easter eggs fascinating, so these are basically going to be patterns, trends or other curiosities that I've noticed in things and that I've been curious enough to look into further. This first part will look at where references to the Gruffalo pop up in the rest of Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler's series of children's books.

First of all, I'll quickly explain that there are no Gruffalo references in A Squash & A Squeeze because that's the only one of their books that came out before The Gruffalo, and also that I (my kids) don't have all of their books but we've got a fair few of them so we're going by the references that we've noticed from those ones. These are usually quite subtle so not always noticeable unless you go looking for them, but let me save you the time!

Tabby McTat
A child asleep in a push chair when Tabby McTat goes looking for Fred is holding a Gruffalo teddy.

[Image description: The titular tabby cat Tabby McTat looking up at a street magician's performance. Next to Tabby is a sleeping child in a red push chair holding a Gruffalo teddy which is sat upright and looking out to the front.]

The Scarcrows' Wedding
When Reginald Rake is built to replace Harry he tries to take Betty on a tractor ride. That tractor is a "Gruff-tor" branded one with a Gruffalo face logo.

[Image description: The blue tractor that Reginald Rake drives. On the side of the tractor is a short, grey stripe with a Gruffalo head on the end, and "GRUFF-TOR" written in capitals across the stripe.]

Stick Man
When Stick man rescues Santa from being stuck in the chimney there's a Christmas tree in the background with a Gruffalo face Christmas bauble. I think it's also worth noting that Stick Man as a whole is technically a Gruffalo reference because the titular character was inspired by Axel Scheffler's drawing of the Gruffalo's Child holding a stick figure in The Gruffalo's Child.

[Image description: The top image is a close-up of the green Christmas tree from Stick Man showing the Gruffalo's face as a decorative bauble. The bottom image is from The Gruffalo's Child, showing the Gruffalo's titular offspring looking confused while holding a stick figure very similar in shape to Stick Man.]

Zog
When Sir Gadabout The Great arrives to rescue Princess Pearl from the dragons you can see that his steed's saddle has a Gruffalo emblem on the side. It makes you wonder whether Gadabout had plans to/previously tried to slay the Gruffalo?

(We've actually lost our copy of Zog so can't take a picture for this one.)

Zog & The Flying Doctors
In Zog's sequel, Pearl's uncle (the king) is stricken down with orange fever. While she is tending to his bedside you can see that the Gruffalo's face is carved into the top part of his bed frame, similarly to the side of Gadabout's saddle.

[Image description: A close-up of the king's bed showing the Gruffalo's face carved into the top beam with plants framing it on either side.]

Superworm

When the bugs rescue Superworm by throwing Wizard Lizard in the rubbish dump you might notice that there's a teddy in the rubbish pile as well with its back turned, but its horns as well as its terrible claws and its purple prickles all over its back make it obvious that this is a Gruffalo teddy that's been cruelly discarded. Possibly by the same boy in the push chair? After all, Superworm was released 3 years after Tabby McTat.

[Image description: The Gruffalo teddy seen from the back in the rubbish dump. His top half and one arm is poking out of a cardboard box and he's surrounded by various other pieces of rubbish such as tins and what looks like a sugar bag.]

Tiddler: The Story Telling Fish

When Tiddler gets lost and is trying to find his way back home (very Finding Nemo-esque) he gets chased by a Gruffalo fish. I like this one because it's one of the more obvious crossovers and puts over the Gruffalo's fierceness from the original story, whereas all the other references so far have depicted him as a cuddly teddy or a status symbol in the form of an emblem.

[Image description: Tiddler is swimming in circles around a small pile of rocks with coral on the top. He is being chased by a Gruiffalo fish who has the Gruffalo's terrible tusks, his terrible teeth in his terrible jaws, his poisonous wart on the end of his nose, his orange eyes and purple prickles all over his back. The fish's body seems to be furry and brown just like the actual Gruffalo.]

The Highway Rat

At the end of the story when the Highway Rat ends up working in a cake shop it shows a couple of biscuits on the counter in the shape of the Gruffalo's face, and also a young wolf eating another one of them while his mum talks to the shop owner, who is ironically a sheep.

[Image description: Two Gruffalo biscuits on a plate on a wooden counter in front of a yellow till. There is what looks like a birthday cake on one side of the biscuits, and some sort of strawberry cake on the other.]

The only other story that we've got is Room On The Broom, but there doesn't seem to be any Gruffalo references in that and I don't understand why. If anyone's got an explanation or any other examples of Gruffalo references please let me know in the comments or on social media. On that note, please click Subscribe at the top of the page and follow me on social media. I'm @DepictDave on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and you can buy me a coffee at my Ko-Fi account here.