Come with us back to the deep, dark wood with Gruffalo Granny, the first new Gruffalo story in more than twenty years from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. RNIB has worked with Macmillan Children's Books to create a custom braille edition that launched on the very same day as the print edition: Thursday, 10 September.
That same day launch matters. Too often, children with vision impairment have to wait months or even years for accessible versions of the books their friends are talking about. This time, blind and partially sighted children can meet Gruffalo Granny on day one, right alongside everyone else.
Our custom edition features clear sheets of braille overlaid on the original text and Axel Scheffler's beautiful illustrations so that braille readers and print readers can enjoy the book together.
The braille edition is available in both uncontracted (grade 1) braille – every word is spelled out letter by letter, ideal for anyone learning braille; and contracted (grade 2) braille – the most common format for experienced braille readers, which uses additional braille characters and shortened word forms (similar to shorthand).
This braille edition is one part of a pioneering nationwide campaign. Ahead of publication, Macmillan Children's Books announced a partnership with nine literacy and disability charities, launched during the Department for Education's National Year of Reading, to make sure the new story reaches children who might otherwise miss out.
The timing is no accident. Research from the National Literacy Trust found that fewer than half of parents and carers of children aged five and under now read with them every day, a fall of around twenty percentage points since 2019. The campaign aims to help turn that around, with 140,000 gifted Gruffalo books heading to families in disadvantaged areas, including 75,000 copies of Gruffalo Granny, alongside family reading sessions designed to build lasting reading habits.
Alongside RNIB's braille edition, the accessible formats launching on publication day include an accessible PDF available through RNIB Bookshare, an audio tactile edition created with Living Paintings, and a British Sign Language translation produced with the National Deaf Children's Society. In an industry first, every one of these accessible formats arrives on the same day as the standard print edition.
Anticipation for the book has been remarkable. After Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler revealed the title on BBC Radio 4 in February, Gruffalo Granny shot to the top of the charts on pre-orders alone, a full seven months before publication.
In addition to our custom edition of Gruffalo Granny, you can also buy braille and print editions of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, or pick up a Gruffalo Tonie to use with a TonieBox.
