This is the Basque version of the well-known work Grufaloa, published almost two decades ago. This album tells the story of the animals in the forest and in its simplicity we can say that it looks like old fables. But it is not the usual; or in other words, the narrative, the rhythm, the point of view… are very current and so the reader can receive the wisdom of the old fables but with a humorous and current perspective.

The main and fastest protagonist in this story is a small mouse:

“A mouse came out to walk over the dark and deep forest. A fox saw the mouse and found it sweet...

“Where are you going, brown mouse?” Do you want to come to my refuge?”

The fox's curiosity is reminiscent of the wolf of the Grimm brothers. And the danger. It is not just an invitation that makes him the fox, who, as seen in the images, is eager to eat the mouse from the beginning.

This, on the contrary, very elegantly rejects the fox’s “invitation”:

“Thank you, fox, but I can’t. I've stayed with a gruffin to eat. (…)

“What is a grub?” (…)

“It has terrible tusks, huge claws and huge teeth in its terrible mouth.”

The fox, of course, runs away when they hear it. And the mouse smiled because of his stupidity.

The same will happen later when you meet the owl and snake. These, natural enemies of the mouse, will run out when you find out about the gruphallus. And the mice are smiling -- until they find a true gruphallus. And do you know what the favorite meal of the grubbles is? Mice!

The mouse, until then fast and skillful, teaches us that it is faster, to the point of frightening the same grub (and on this occasion the smile will appear on the faces of readers and viewers).

The smallest animal in the forest will prevail over all its enemies. Everyone will look at him with respect and with a little fear, all with his head.

The rhythm of repetitive narration, the scarcity of characters, the simple characterization of the protagonists through their actions: these are the characteristics of ancient folk tales. These and the strength of Axel Scheffler’s images, which provide a lot of additional information, help to better understand the story and make the public enjoy more. In addition, this is an ideal story to tell the children as we teach them the images, a story that can be enjoyed in large groups or in the intimacy of the house.

Now we only need to encourage those of the editorial Bruño and offer the opportunity to read in Basque the daughter of Grufaloa, descendant of this story.