'The Gruffalo' DVD Review + Giveaway

UPDATE: Congrats to Raven in a Blue Room, who won "The Gruffalo" DVD! I'll send you an email with the deets. :) Thanks to everyone who participated (and to Random.org), and stay tuned for more giveaways!

I always love stumbling across adorable children's books or movies that offer a nice dose of smarts along with the entertainment. When I received "The Gruffalo" DVD for review from NCircle Entertainment, CC and I got both -- a fun, manageable tale (40 minutes total) about a super-witty mouse who outsmarts some hungry animals around him.

Narrated by the talented Helena Bonham Carter, Academy Award nominee "The Gruffalo," which is based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, tells the story of a resourceful mouse who goes for a walk in the woods to find a nut only to come across hungry predators -- a fox, an owl and a snake.

Fearing for his pint-sized life, the mouse makes up a story about an even bigger predator -- The Gruffalo -- and scares away the predators who want him for their own little snack.

The story takes a turn when the Gruffalo actually shows up -- and is hungry, too! What kind of story must the mouse tell now?

Featuring a talented bunch of voice actors, including Tom Wilkinson (love him!), John Hurt and Robbie Coltrane, this little movie really encourages quick thinking and courage in the face of danger.

CC kept asking when the Gruffalo would show up, and when he did, she wondered how the mouse would get out of that sticky situation. What was great was that she understood that the mouse was tricking the predators just to stay alive.

The next day, after I picked her up from preschool, she told me she had told one of her friends about "The Gruffalo."

"And [the friend] asked me if the Gruffalo lived outside of my house!" laughed CC in the retelling. It was so cute to think of her discussing a little movie at preschool.

*** GIVEAWAY ***

I'm giving away 1 copy of "The Gruffalo" DVD (SRP: $9.99).

To enter, please leave a comment about something your child has done to surprise you.

For more chances to win, follow me on Twitter and retweet this giveaway. I'm at @la_story. Or you can "Like" the L.A. Story Facebook page.

Just be sure to leave extra comments telling me you did so.

Good luck, and I will announce the winner on Wednesday, Oct. 12!