'Another visit to the deep dark wood: the return of the Gruffalo

He's got knobbly knees, turned-out toes, a poisonous wart at the end of his nose...and he's back, for the first time in more than 20 years: Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have announced they are working on a new Gruffalo book.

- Lucy Knight

Due out in September 2026, the as-yet-untitled picture book will return to the world of the bestselling stories The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, which were published in 1999 and 2004 respectively. The books are among the most popular children's titles in the world, with The Gruffalo having sold 3.2m copies to date and The Gruffalo's Child 2.1m copies.

The new story "sees the return of much-loved characters in a fresh and exciting adventure that has all the hallmarks of a Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler classic," according to the book's publisher, Macmillan.

"It's always a challenge to write a sequel," Donaldson said. "I actually had the basic idea for the story a long time ago, but couldn't think how to develop it."

It was only when the charity National Literacy Trust (NLT) used the first two books as part of one of its campaigns last year that Donaldson was "spurred on to get my idea out of the cupboard and see once and for all if I could turn it into a really satisfying story", she said.