Smells of the Gruffalo brings book to life for visually impaired children

We all know what the Gruffalo looks like, it’s terrible claws and terrible tusks in its terrible jaws, the black tongue paired with a poisonous wart are all instantly recognisable for children past and present.

To aid children with vision impairments, Guide Dogs have produced Gruffalo scent kits that bring the popular children’s book to life by creating and releasing the smell of the Gruffalo.

Guide Dogs, the top provider of services for children and young people with a vision impairment, partnered with Macmillan Children’s Books and Magic Light Pictures to create the scent kit as part of a campaign to highlight experiences of children with sight loss.

The kit includes five inhalers, one for each character and each scent was developed with the help of Guide Dogs’ service users. The infamous Gruffalo smell is described as ‘a stinky leathery barnyard smell that permeates from the depths of the deep, dark wood’

Guide Dogs UK is giving 150 scent kits to families with visually impaired children to ensure that story time is inclusive for all.