Wolfie and the Gruffalo

You probably all have heard of the Gruffalo, this creature and modern children classic story. Wolfie has a ambivalent report with the story and the monster. He loves it, loves when we read the book to him, loves the animated adaptation... yet sometimes he gets scared of the Gruffalo and asks us to stop reading, or stop watching the movie. A few weeks ago, we went to an fayre and there was a Gruffalo cave, with a "real" Gruffalo (a man or woman in a Gruffalo suit). Wolfie got terrified. He had to keep away from him and he begged me to hold him every time the Gruffalo was coming by. Today, we went to Wendover Woods, where there is a huge wooden statue of the Gruffalo and... and surprisingly Wolfie was not scared at all. He was even fascinated with the creature. It is true that he was prepped by his mum, who told him that this Gruffalo was made of wood and just a pretend one. Still, I'm surprised that he enjoyed the Gruffalo so much, given that it looked so real and lifelike.