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Cave Baby

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A hairy mammoth takes a cheeky little baby on a thrilling ride through a moonlit landscape populated by a sabre-toothed tiger, a leaping hare, a laughing hyena and even, just maybe, by a big brown bear ...But where are they going? And what has it to do with the baby's scribblings on the cave wall?

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

14 people are currently reading
440 people want to read

About the author

Julia Donaldson

1,239 books1,941 followers
Growing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).

Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.

I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.

Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.

The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.

I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.

One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.

My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.

I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.

Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.

When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.

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5 stars
347 (32%)
4 stars
377 (35%)
3 stars
273 (25%)
2 stars
60 (5%)
1 star
16 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
Profile Image for Karina.
1,043 reviews
January 9, 2020
Spanish Edition--- this was a beautifully illustrated story written as a poem about a baby caveman (cave baby?) His parents draw animals on the walls of their cave home: mammoth, saber toothed tiger, rabbit, hyena, and a bear. The baby is so lonely he starts to paint bright colors over their dark animals. He gets in trouble by Cave Mom and Dad.

Later that night the mammoth comes for him and gives cave baby a ride on his back and inspiration to paint beautiful bright drawings.

Super cute book. Love stories where imagination wins over tradition.
Profile Image for Jacob Kelly.
328 reviews6 followers
May 14, 2021
Ban Cave baby. I want it known I don't like him or approve of him in any way.
5 reviews1 follower
January 8, 2013
Cave Baby by Julia Donaldson is a book on the escapades of a bored cave baby. After painting bright squiggles, stars and stripes on the beautifully decorated cave s, cave baby is told by cave dad that “If you don’t take care a mammoth’s going to throw you to the big brown bear!”. Cave baby is then whisked off into the night and taken on a mysterious adventure, with a Woolly Mammoth.
Cave Baby is an entertaining and wonderfully illustrated story that captures the imagination and keeps the reader guessing what will happen next. This book is filled with ideas and concepts of the prehistoric world that will enrich the vocabulary and engage the mind.
Cave baby can be read independently by readers aged 9 and up, as there are a few difficult names of prehistoric creatures and descriptive words that younger readers will need help understanding. This aside, it can still be enjoyable when read aloud for those as young as nursery.
Cave baby can be used in both Literacy and as a cross-curricular topic. Cave Baby can be integrated into an English lesson as an introduction to poetry writing. In true Donaldson style, Cave baby reads as a beautifully orchestrated rhyming poem, with a simple but catching rhythm that makes it a great example of the format of a poem and a very enjoyable read.
Cave baby could be used in art as a link to history. The focus in this story is cave drawings. During an Art lesson, the class could be asked to create a cave drawing/ painting that illustrate a story, which could be their journey to school or what they did that morning. This would then lead onto the discovery of real cave paintings and the life and stories of prehistoric man.
Whether it is read in class or on your own, Cave Baby is a thoroughly interesting read, and a perfect addition to any bookshelf.
Enjoy.
Profile Image for u1124876 UEL.
29 reviews
October 3, 2011
Julia Donaldson has written many books including Sharing a Shell and also The Gruffolo and writes the story for Cave Baby which Jon kindly lent me. This is a story of a baby who finds a brush and pot and paints all over the murals already painted on the walls and his adventure that takes place as a result.

Emily Gravett illustrates this book and unlike Wolves I am fond of her depictions in it. I like her use of colour, shading and pencil drawings. The hare in the story bears some resemblance to the wolf in Wolves but I like it because of the perspective of the hare in the illustration and also it looks like it has been done in watercolour as opposed to just a black and white pencil drawing. I also like the shading on the blackberry's. There are some darker pictures in this book where you struggle to read the words which could have been written in white or grey to make it easier to read rather than in black. There is a small mouse in one of the illustrations that is painting a mural of a larger mouse hunting the Dad which is amusing and elements like this make the story more enjoyable.

I would read this book aloud with the children in lower KS1 and talk about why the baby is bored and what he does as a result. I would get the children to come up with other ideas to how the baby could curb his boredom. I would like to use literacy and art and get the children to paint their own murals. Also I would look at the animals depicted in the story and possibly look at the French words for them.
Profile Image for Miss Davey.
3 reviews
November 10, 2015
This picture was a joy to read. With flowing rhyming text I felt the story was really emphasised. The factor which made this picture book so enjoyable is the illustrations by Emily Gravett (illustrator for The Imaginary by A.F Harold). When focusing on the imaginary you really get a feel of how the 'Cave Baby' is feeling throughout his journey. Gravett uses dark and neutral tones which puts emphasis on how the baby is might be afraid or alone however adds bright and colourful imaged when the baby is excited and happy. Overall I would use this book for it's powerful imagery.
Profile Image for Jon Saunders.
21 reviews
September 29, 2011
This is a charming book about a babies love of painting in bright imaginative colours and a mammmoth who needs his cave brightening up. The artwork is gloomy until the baby gets hold of some primary colours and then bright yellows, blues, greens and reds splash across the page.

This would be a great book to read out loud to a reception class, especially to encourage them to be as imaginative as they can be with their art work.
27 reviews3 followers
November 7, 2015
A very different book style to the more well known books from Julia Donaldson. I felt this was less commercial and for that reason really enjoyed it.

Professionally:
Picture book codes could be applied
A good book to link to Stone Age topic work.
11 reviews
October 16, 2012
The Cave Baby is a simple story of a baby who lives in a cave with his mother and father. There are fabulous drawings on the cave walls, and one day, the bored baby decided to get a little creative himself. He paints spots, stripes, stars, squiggles and zig zags all over the cave walls. His Mom and Dad are furious when they see the result and threaten the baby with the notion of a big, brown bear coming to take him away.
That night, a huge mammoth comes into the cave and takes the baby away. The cave baby is very afraid at first; but as the mammoth reaches their destination and hands the baby a paintbrush to paint the mammoth’s dull, dark cave, the cave baby is very excited and uses bright colours to decorate the mammoth’s cave. The mammoth returns the baby safely to his own cave and cave baby has wonderful dreams of his adventurous night out. As with all of Donaldson’s books, the illustrations are beautiful and the use of rhyming makes the book a joy to listen to.
This book is suitable to read during story time at EY or the beginning of KS1. The story encourages children to be creative and imaginative by using colour in their drawings and other art work. The range of patterns which cave baby draws on the walls in his home could be discussed as shapes and patterns in a maths lesson. There are also a number of feelings portrayed in the story, and it would be easier for EAL children to understand these feelings through the illustrations in the book relating to them.
Profile Image for Amy Beckett.
23 reviews1 follower
October 16, 2018
Loved this one from Julia Donaldson! A simple narrative, but what fantastic illustrations to represent Cave Baby breaking the norm and tradition of the family and using art to express himself. This book has brilliant opportunities for cross curricular learning: it could be used in art lessons, getting children to be creative and experiment with vibrant colours against a dark background, understanding shade and contrast as well as silhouettes. It also has a great cross curricular reference to history in the national curriculum in regards to learning about the Stone Age. This book has so much going on, after looking at it several times I found myself noticing different illustrations and finding new meanings and understandings, as cave baby goes on his artistic journey of self-discovery on the back of a woolly mammoth.
Profile Image for Milan Žila.
307 reviews12 followers
October 25, 2018
A solid effort with original pictures but I expected more from Julia Donaldson.

I like the story and the message, even found some fun jokes and references hidden in the pictures but the rhyming felt repetitive for half the book.

The book is fine and I liked it but from such talent I was expecting more.

The pictures are very nice and I will look for more books illustrated by Emily Gravett.
Profile Image for Marie.
200 reviews4 followers
September 19, 2020
Julia Donaldson's books are always amazing and cave baby is no exception to this rule. Cave baby is bored and has nothing to do. until one day he discovers a paint pot in his cave and wants to draw. Unfortunately his parents aren't happy with his drawings and wash them all away.

A hairy mammoth comes along and takes cave baby on an adventure where he sees lots of the animals his parents have drawn. He is taken to another cave by the mammoth and is allowed to draw whatever he wants to.
19 reviews35 followers
Read
November 15, 2020
My 3YO was scared as I read this book to her. In the story, the parents are upset that the baby painted on the walls and threaten the baby by saying a mammoth will take him away to a bear, and then, the baby actually does get taken away from the parents! Not a message I want to be reading to my child.
Profile Image for Sonia.
48 reviews2 followers
February 10, 2013
An all time tip top favourite book. Sublime words and pictures. One of the first stories that my little girl started to recite from memory. I shall never forget "a crackle in the bracken. Hyena's laughing there"
Profile Image for Stef Rozitis.
1,749 reviews85 followers
August 24, 2016
Fun, enjoyable, the rhyme works and the pictures add interest. The repetition was much enjoyed and latched onto by the toddlers I work with.

I didn't see much in this book apart from enjoyment of the literary form of it but it was certainly original and fun to read.
Profile Image for TheoR.
108 reviews27 followers
February 8, 2021
This book has many rhyming words. Kids would love the pictures of this book and will take them to an adventure in the time of mammoths. this book had to be given 10 stars if it was there.
Profile Image for Claire.
1,249 reviews329 followers
April 18, 2024
Julia Donaldson remains a firm fave- this is a delightful story about the joy of creativity. Love it.
Profile Image for Lance.
244 reviews7 followers
May 20, 2018
"Cave Baby's lucky - he lives inside a cave With his mum (who's good at painting) And his dad (who's very brave)
Cave Baby's lonely. Nobody will play. Dad is busy being brave. Mum says 'keep away.' Everything is boring ... Then suddenly it's not, For in the corner of the cave he finds a brush and pot.
"

This was an utterly charming book about a prehistoric baby whose artistic talents are too avant-garde to be appreciated by his parents, but delight a family of mammoths who steal Cave Baby in the night to decorate their home. It is uplifting, fun, and every illustration is packed with detail. It was hard not to quote the entire book in this review!
Cave Baby Adam is at home in his neolithic crib with a mobile of twigs and bones, when his parents are distracted by a mouse (whose partner is painting the epic exchange at skirting-board height on the wall). While his dad fights off the rodent invasion, Cave Baby Adam discovers his mother's paintpot, and decides to add some speculative realism to his family's cave paintings. "This is lots of fun!" Cave Baby Adam is carried away by being creative and re-imagining the world in different colours and shapes, but his parents are not impressed with his impressionist style. "'If you don't take care, A mammoth's going to trow you to the big brown bear!'" Lying in bed that night, unable to sleep, Cave Baby Adam is abducted by a local woolly mammoth! "Cave Baby's restless. He's feeling wide awake. A long grey trunk comes sneaking in, all wiggly like a snake." He is carried across the moonlit landscape on the mammoths back, seeing the wild counterparts of his mother's paintings and fearing the appearance of the big brown bear.
"A cackle in the bracken! A hyena's laughing there. Has he heard a joke about the big brown bear?"
A sabre-toothed tiger. A hare. A hyena. A woolly mammoth. And a big brown bear.
But he is brought to the mammoths' cave, where these friendly relatives of modern elephants, a fascinating animal that once our human ancestors would have known, Cave Baby Adam's talents are rewarded. "The cave is bright with moonlight. The walls are plain and bare. Snoring in the shadows! Someone's sleeping there. Cave Baby's worried. He doesn't understand ... Until the woolly mammoth pops a paintbrush in his hand." His experience quickly devolves into psychedelic whirls of colour with the mammoths. "And they rollick and they frolic, they trumpet and they crash, They wade into the water. They roll and romp and splash." The book has a fun and subtle message, that just because some people don't understand the unique things that make you different, doesn't mean that they aren't impressive and valuable to others.
The rhyming structure was a great hit when this was read aloud with my husband Baby Adam (not of the cave variety), and makes the text much more memorable. But the really special aspect of this book is the rich visuals of the illustrations. Cave Baby himself is expressive and personable, and each of the animals he meets is distorted and recoloured on each page to be viewed in a completely different light. The images really portray the idea of seeing the world in different ways. I think I enjoyed this one much more than the more famous The Gruffalo.
Profile Image for Wendy.
55 reviews
July 29, 2018
Where did Art and the need for self expression come from?

Well, they have been with mankind at least since the prehistoric cavemen according to this delightful book by Julia Donaldson.

Cave Baby gets bored. He decides to paint over the cave paintings that his mother and father have carefully painted on their cave wall as an answer to that boredom. His cave parents aren't proud of this or happy about it at all, and his father warns him that if he continues to misbehave he'll be carried off by animals.

Cave Baby goes to sleep, and is awakened when the mammoth does just that. Cave Baby wonders what will happen, but he is taken to a cave where he is given paints and can do as he pleases to decorate the walls. He paints animals not always in the correct colors or with the correct number of legs, and very colorful. He paints a mustache on an elephant. He is thoroughly enjoying himself. When the animals come to look at his work, they are overjoyed. They celebrate his artistic creations, and carry him back to his bed in his cave, where he dreams about those colorful cave paintings.

We need to create and we need encouragement. Very well told to make that point.
670 reviews
Read
July 18, 2021
Cave Baby is an enjoyable read about a cave baby who after drawing on the walls of his cave, much to his parents disappointment, ends up going on an adventure with a mammoth where he ends up finding a place where his creativity is accepted and encouraged.

This is a lovely story and one the children have asked to be read a few times. It is not one of our favourite books by the author but it is a fun read and good to get the children thinking about how cave baby and his parents feel after his artwork is not appreciated and shows that we all have different perspectives on things, what one person might dislike someone else like the animals loved.

The illustrations are lovely and with lots of darker colours they really give the caveman feel to the book. The children particularly liked the mammoth and seeing all the other animals and it's nice to see some different animals for a change rather than more standard animals like a lot of books include. We loved the end and seeing what cave baby got up to with the animals.

This is a good book that we enjoyed reading, not one of our favourites but still a great read for young children.
Profile Image for Leon Jane.
Author 3 books16 followers
June 29, 2021
'Cave Baby', written by Julia Donaldsonand beautifully illustrated by Emily Gravett is sure to be another favourite for your child. The prose in this picture book is less structured like other Julia Donaldson books but it seems to work as we are carried along on a whimsical journey - with the ever present notion of not wanting to come in contact with the big bear!

Although 'Cave Baby' is another great work by Donaldson I believe the illustrations by Gravett really carry the story; the art is cheery, captivating and dynamic. Still worth seeking out at your library as I think your child is sure to love 'Cave Baby.'
Profile Image for Marissa.
195 reviews2 followers
December 5, 2021
The message in this book about the value of imagination, creativity, and art is great. It would be a fun read for a preschooler who might be self-critical of his/her drawings not being realistic/matching the real-life animal or object exactly. Cave Baby breaks all the conventions and paints animals in bright colors and in different sizes and positions. I will say I first read it to my son when he was 3 and he was scared at several parts then. Also, Cave Baby's parents are the antagonists who get mad at him and crush his creative dreams, which is not great. But I guess it makes parents who do not do that look awesome to their kids in comparison?
Profile Image for Freddie D.
898 reviews6 followers
June 19, 2020
What an epic collaboration! I think this is some of Emily Gravett's best work. The illustrations are spectacular, especially once the baby of titular fame lets loose with the cave paint and the pages are awash with bright colour and imaginative design. And there is also just something so special about a Julia Donaldson rhyme; she never fails to disappoint. The cadence and rhythm are just perfect, making it a dream to read aloud. Lots of fun.
Profile Image for Sahifa.
96 reviews1 follower
April 4, 2018
Cave baby is a baby book full of beautiful illustrations and colorful pictures.The story flows in a poetic way.
this story book is written by Julia Donaldson and I received it as a gift for my 18 months old.There is a set of seven baby books and this is one of them.My little one not only loves to listen to the rhyming but also likes to see the pictures. I would say its a creative piece of work and a great attempt to introduce babies to the wonderful world of books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews