Overview
- Die Grüffelo-Oma, which was published Friday, September 25, 2026, is the first new main Grüffelo volume since 2004 and reached bestseller visibility before its release.
- In the story the small mouse uses a Scheherazade-style storytelling device to delay danger by narrating tales drawn from other Donaldson and Scheffler books without revealing the story’s outcome.
- Julia Donaldson wrote the text and Axel Scheffler provided the hand-made illustrations; the German edition is translated by Monika Osberghaus and published by Beltz & Gelberg as a 38-page book priced at €16.
- The book foregrounds a pro-reading message by making the grandmother a reader and writer, and the three Grüffelo titles have been incorporated into the National Literacy Trust’s reading programme in the UK.
- Scheffler has publicly flagged AI-generated uses of the Grüffelo—such as fake Oktoberfest covers—and urged publishers to take steps to prevent unauthorised or politicised repurposing of the character, raising broader questions about rights and image‑generation tools.