Good Night, Gorilla ~ By Peggy Rathmann (1994, Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Summary: I have read this book to my son dozens and dozens of times. He loves it. The book is very simple for children of a young age. The book starts off with the zookeeper saying good night to the gorilla. The sneaky gorilla grabs the zookeeper's keys and lets himself out! As the zookeeper says good night to the other animals in the zoo, the gorilla is following him and letting each of them out! The animal eventually follow the zookeeper home and into his bedroom when his wife notices them all. She leads them back to the zoo and into their cages. She goes back into her room only to have the gorilla follow her again.


My Review: This is a great bedtime read for my son. He loves recognizing all of the animals. I can ask him simple comprehension questions as we read. The gorilla is fun to watch as he sneaks behind the zookeeper. I like that a child can predict what is coming next in the story. I also like the repetition of words. This way my son can practice reading along with me. 

Author Information: Rathmann was born and raised in Minnesota, where she eventually earned her B.A. in psychology. Rathmann eventually studied children's-book writing and illustration at the Otis Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles. One of her homework assignments inspired Good Night, Gorilla. It took her several attempts at an ending to get the book published but it eventually won the ALA Notable Children's Book for 1994. She has also won a Caldecott Award for her book, Officer Buckle and Gloria. She is also the author of many other wonderful children's book that I look forward to sharing with my son in the near future.

Genre: Fiction
Theme/ Skill: One-to-one correspondence, repetition, tracking practice
Age Level: Birth to 8.

Pre-Reading Activity: I would most likely be reading this book at bedtime in the evening, so I would ask the child to read along with me if they could. I would go over the words "good night" so my son could read it with me. I would also have him try to track the words as I read. I would also have him point to each animal as we say their names.

Post-Reading Activity: I would ask the child what another animal could be in the zoo that would the zookeeper home. If the child is old enough, I would also ask them to draw that animal following the zookeeper like it was part of the book.