can understand the Gruffalo's "intentions, his beliefs, desires, emotions and knowledge". In an article on the language of power in picture books, Brittany A. Stone writes that the mouse uses deception to trick the predators; when they invite mouse for a meal it appears to be a simple invitation, but mouse notices their true intention and gains control of the situation. In an article for the Royal Society, Sergio Castellano and Paolo Cermelli write that The Gruffalo is about "the 'irrational' nature of fear" which makes people succumb to deception. From an evolutionary perspective, they say that The Gruffalo is about the methods of deception used by prey against their predators, such as when caterpillars inflate themselves to resemble a snake. Burke writes that the mouse in the story is a quick thinker and demonstrates a reaction to the fight-or-flight response when presented with danger. Humour In an article titled "Humour and the locus of control in 'The Gruffalo'", Betsie van der Westhuizen identifies the following types of humour used in The Gruffalo: "humour with regard to the narrative aspects, humour with regard to the poetic aspects, visual humour and humour and the performing arts". She writes that the most common use of humour in the story is incongruity, arising from the sense that "everything is not as it should be". Some examples include the mouse averting the predators and the unusual descriptions of food, such as "owl ice cream" and "scrambled snake". She writes that there are different experiences of humour among different ages of children who read The Gruffalo: three to five year olds will appreciate the elements of surprise and repetition in the story; six to eight year olds will enjoy the rhyme and rhythm of the text and the story's hyperbole. As for visual representations of humour, van der Westhuizen writes that an example occurs when the mouse scares away the snake, accompanied by fragmented images of the imaginary gruffalo's features, then immediately afterwards comes across the real Gruffalo. Mice often feature as the main character in stories for children, and one key characteristic of the animal in this context is humour. Both Ghassan Fadhil Radhi and van der Westhuizen write that children relate to the character of the mouse who triumphs in difficult situations, along with the humour that is a key element of many mouse stories. Chinese folk tale Donaldson has said that the