Awards Won: ALA Notable Children’s Book, 1994; Bulletin Blue Ribbon, 1994; Horn Book Fanfare 1995 selection; Parenting Magazine Best Children’s Book of 1994 Review This endearing bedtime story is told mostly through pictures punctuated occasionally by speech bubbles stating the repetitive phrase, “goodnight, Armadillo”, “goodnight, Lion”, and so on. Watercolor and colored pencil illustrations in blues, greens, and purples evoke the nighttime setting while yellows and pinks highlight objects illuminated by light from the flashlight, streetlight, or moon. Children will delight in the Gorilla’s mischief as he leads the animals to the zookeeper’s bedroom and they attempt to spend the night, unbeknownst to the zookeeper and his wife. Silliness ensues as each animal answers the wife with “goodnight”, shown in multiple white speech bubbles against a completely black background. Turn the page and we see only a pair of surprised eyes in the dark. Humor, suspense, and mischief combine to make Goodnight, Gorilla a hit among toddlers and preschool children. The lack of words encourages children to invent the story line and the simple repetitive phrase “goodnight” combined with pictorial cues allows pre-readers to connect written words with plot. Themes
Board Book; Humor; Mischief; Animals; Bedtime Application After reading the book to a preschool class, act out the story using a “Duck Duck Goose” type game. Kids sit in a circle and one child (the Gorilla) walks around the outside “releasing” each child from the circle by saying “Goodnight [name of child]. As they are released, the children tip toe behind the zookeeper until all the animals are released. The last child to be released then leads the others back to their places where they lay down and go to sleep. Read-alikes: Alborough, Jez. (2001). Hug. Brown, Margaret Wise. (1947). Goodnight Moon. Author/ Illustrator Website: http://www.peggyrathmann.com/index.html References: Goodnight Gorilla [cover image]. Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/content5/media/products/84/9780590535984_mres.jpg Goodnight Gorilla [illustration]. Retrieved from https://neelysnews.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/following.jpg Kropp, L.G. (July 22, 2013). Must-have board books for early childhood collections [blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/2013/07/standards/early-learning/must-have-board-books-for-early-childhood-collections/#_ Rathman, P. (n.d.). Goodnight Gorilla. Retrieved from http://www.peggyrathmann.com/goodnightgorilla.html
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