Good Night, Gorilla Board & Plush Package FROM OUR EDITORS
Cuddle up with a fuzzy gorilla plush! The board book edition of Peggy Rathmann's bestselling tale about a zookeeper -- and some late-night animal antics -- now comes packaged with a smiley-faced, furry doll. As children snuggle up for bedtime with their new pal, they'll love to watch the star of Rathmann's tale follow the zookeeper as he wishes various animals goodnight. Little does he know, however, that the sneaky gorilla has quietly taken his keys and is opening all the animals' cages! Forming a line behind him, the critters follow the zookeeper home, much to the surprise of his wife. She ends up taking them all back to the zoo, but the gorilla (along with his mouse friend) still has a surprise of his own. This winning twosome is sure to keep kids warmly giggling into a safe and happy slumber.
ANNOTATION
An unobservant zookeeper is followed home by all the animals he thinks he has left behind in the zoo.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Good Night, Gorilla won the 1994 Cuffie for "Most Likely to Succeed in Years Ahead" and has more than lived up to that prediction, becoming a modern classic that is a must in every child's library.
This perfect package will give kids the opportunity to cuddle up with an adorable plush gorilla while they are enjoying his secret bedtime antics.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Universally understandable subject matter and a narrative conveyed almost entirely through pictures mark this as an ideal title for beginners. A zookeeper makes his nightly rounds, bidding good night to a gorilla, a lion, a giraffe and so on. He doesn't know that the gorilla has procured his keys and is unlocking each animal's cage; a jungly crowd files quietly behind the keeper as he walks home and crawls into bed. When his wife says, ``Good night, dear,'' seven voices reply, ``Good night,'' and it's up to the missus to return the mischievous menagerie. Although Rathmann's illustrations lack the artistic ingenuity she displayed in Ruby the Copycat and Bootsie Barker Bites , the author/artist connects with her audience on several levels. Children can identify with the animals, who have toys in their cages (the elephant has a plush Babar) and resist being left alone in their ``rooms'' all night; they will also enjoy some minor subplots. Some details prove questionable (for example, one overdrawn visage of Mrs. Zookeeper seems blurry, particularly because she's rendered with a few simple lines elsewhere), yet these considerations take a back seat to Rathmann's comic exuberance. Ages 3-6. ( Apr. )
Publishers Weekly
Several familiar book friends take new forms. A board book version of Peggy Rathmann's bedtime tale of a mischievous gorilla who follows the zookeeper home comes with a plush version of the hero in a large boxed set, Good Night, Gorilla: Book and Plush. About this story, PW said, "Universally understandable subject matter and a narrative conveyed almost entirely through pictures mark this as an ideal title for beginners." Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 1-A mischievous little gorilla lifts the zoo keeper's keys on the first page of this sparely worded picture book. The brightly colored illustrations basically tell the entertaining story as the gorilla tags along behind the man, gleefully freeing all of the other animals, who then follow him single file into his neat little house. It is his unruffled wife who, without disturbing her sleepy husband, calmly returns the creatures to their cages. Even she, however, does not notice the wily gorilla, who, still in possession of the keys, returns to the house, slips into the big bed, and curls up contentedly between the people for the night. A clever, comforting bedtime story.-Jan Shepherd Ross, Dixie Elementary Magnet School, Lexington, KY
BookList - Ilene Cooper
In this limited-word picture book, a gorilla follows the zookeeper as he says good-night to his charges. What the zookeeper doesn't know is that the mischievous gorilla has snatched his keys and is letting out the animals almost as fast as the zookeeper can lock them up. The animals follow him to his house and into the bedroom, where, in an amusing pitch-black spread, a pair of worried wide-open eyes let the zookeeper's wife know that she and her husband are not alone. Jaunty four-color artwork carries the story and offers more with every look.
Home
