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One Gorilla: A Counting Book
Here is a list of the things I love.
One gorilla.
Two butterflies among my flowers--and one gorilla.
Tree budgerigars in my house--and one gorilla.
One very playful gorilla keeps popping up in gardens, forests, jungles, and even people's houses as he takes the reader on a wild counting adventure. He hides--as much as a gorilla can!--along with all the other creatures as they dart, leap, and peer from the most surprising places, waiting to be counted. A chart at the end of the book provides a key to all the animals and their corresponding numbers.
Soft, precise illustrations characterize this colorful counting book. One Gorilla is a 1990 New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year.
One gorilla.
Two butterflies among my flowers--and one gorilla.
Tree budgerigars in my house--and one gorilla.
One very playful gorilla keeps popping up in gardens, forests, jungles, and even people's houses as he takes the reader on a wild counting adventure. He hides--as much as a gorilla can!--along with all the other creatures as they dart, leap, and peer from the most surprising places, waiting to be counted. A chart at the end of the book provides a key to all the animals and their corresponding numbers.
Soft, precise illustrations characterize this colorful counting book. One Gorilla is a 1990 New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
1 person is currently reading
87 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 5, 2019
Could be used for young children to help with counting as they could find the animals to count making it more interactive and engaging. Detailed illustrations, particularly the use of texture for the animals.
June 30, 2020
Beautiful illustrations. Kind of hard to find all the animals, so it would keep their interest for a while finding all of them on each page.
December 3, 2022
A night earlier, I had been playing a card game (Monopoly Deal, highly recommended, especially if no one is winning or losing too successively, definitely one the greatest "ONE MORE ROUND!" games I've ever encountered) with my little sister, & somehow started making obscure jokes referencing One Gorilla. At the time, I wasn't even sure this was the correct title of the childhood book I felt I could picture so perfectly in my head. I wondered where that old book was - it wasn't on my sister's bookshelves, where a portion of my own childhood had migrated to. It wasn't on my own, where minus a lot of the juvenilia such as a hefty Goosebumps collection (not dissing Goosebumps btw), another portion of my childhood had migrated to. So I figured I'd get a copy for nostalgia.
Fast forward to the next morning, I don't have much going on. It was a big relief, a welcome shift from my constant meetings, contact follow-up, interviews, calls with People of Importance, etc... & anyway, I notice (this at my parent's house) at the top of their own oddly-inhabited bookshelf, there is a bunch of crap that looks like children's books. They're stacked precariously, so I don't really want to touch anything, but get up on my tippy-toes & scan the spines & notice most of these are older books of mine! It takes me awhile to find One Gorilla, but sure enough, it's there, with my original 1- or 2-year old self's graffiti all over the back of it.
I wasn't able to help myself, & went through it, properly counting out all the animals (which I swear to God isn't as cookie-cutter easy as other books of the genre), & just enjoying the beautiful artwork & chill vibes the gorilla gives in like every single picture. I chuckled at the well-defined gorilla buttcrack in a few of the images. I remembered why, as simple as it was, I never forgot the book. It's just great art.
Hiding a copy under my sister's pillow, she found it later that night, remembered (with my nudging) what it was in reference to, refused to look at a kid's book, & that was that.
But I'm still with you, homie. You're coming back home with me
Fast forward to the next morning, I don't have much going on. It was a big relief, a welcome shift from my constant meetings, contact follow-up, interviews, calls with People of Importance, etc... & anyway, I notice (this at my parent's house) at the top of their own oddly-inhabited bookshelf, there is a bunch of crap that looks like children's books. They're stacked precariously, so I don't really want to touch anything, but get up on my tippy-toes & scan the spines & notice most of these are older books of mine! It takes me awhile to find One Gorilla, but sure enough, it's there, with my original 1- or 2-year old self's graffiti all over the back of it.
I wasn't able to help myself, & went through it, properly counting out all the animals (which I swear to God isn't as cookie-cutter easy as other books of the genre), & just enjoying the beautiful artwork & chill vibes the gorilla gives in like every single picture. I chuckled at the well-defined gorilla buttcrack in a few of the images. I remembered why, as simple as it was, I never forgot the book. It's just great art.
Hiding a copy under my sister's pillow, she found it later that night, remembered (with my nudging) what it was in reference to, refused to look at a kid's book, & that was that.
But I'm still with you, homie. You're coming back home with me
March 25, 2022
A bit more search-and-find than most of our counting books as the animals are in a scene instead of the only thing on the page. I like that it is different animals than the typical farm animals/north american animals we have in most of our books.
January 28, 2013
A one-ten counting book featuring more unusual animals such as Pandas, exotic fish, frogs etc, who all appear in beautifully drawn pictures with the 'one gorilla'. It keeps children enthralled because they need to search and count the animals on the pages, and as there is so much going on within each picture, it keeps their interest. At the end of the book, there is a recap with numbers, words and the images of all of the animals to count again reinforcing the counting skills and it ends with a lovely picture of the 'one gorilla' snoozing in the grass, presumably exhausted from all the counting! This book can be used to in early years classrooms to help with numeracy skills, identification of animals and for as a puzzle when searching in some of the pictures (especially for the 10 cats!). Its such a warm and lovely drawn book that it keeps children coming back to it again and again.
September 20, 2023
A children's picture book called "One Gorilla" by Atsuko Morozumi is used to teach young learners about counting and gorillas in an entertaining and educative manner. There may be a need for the teacher or parents to assist the young learner if they do not know the definition of what a gorilla might be. For children who are not familiar with numbers, the book also contains a number chart, allowing them to identify numbers as they read the book. Furthermore, a child may benefit from a book that contains all the numbers and pictures arranged in a simple way on the back of the page. This will help them learn to count correctly, or perhaps a book that uses a more conventional layout at the start. In most of these pages, animals are hidden to some degree in order to keep them from being seen. The child might not be able to see what is taking place visually, so they might need some guidance. Once the child has the idea of numbers, he or she can then work their way through the pages looking for the animals and counting them until all are found, putting learning knowledge into a fun search. Bishop illustrates that "books are sometimes windows, offering a world that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange (Bishop, 1). Depending on the age of the child, they may have no prior knowledge of gorillas or counting, but they will probably question if what they are seeing is familiar to them, if at all.
March 19, 2018
I love this book - the illustrations are beautiful especially the gorillas and pandas. My son is 17 months old and has learnt to find and point to the gorillas and the different animals on each page. I think it is helping him to understand and follow instructions as well as to search for things on a page, and possibly also to count. For myself, I love the illustrations and going through the book together.
April 27, 2022
Beautiful book in the style of "My Friend Gorilla" (also recommend highly). Teaches counting in a far more amusing way than most counting books--which, let's face it-- can get tedious. A gorilla is the constant on every page, surrounded by other animals who are somewhat camouflaged. The children enjoy finding the five rabbits, three birds, etc. I love the first line: 'this is a list of things I love." Gifted writer and illustrator.
December 17, 2025
The illustrations in this oversize picture book are gorgeous. It is a counting book and begins with one gorilla, moving on to other primates for each number. Great for learning to count and to identify the animals.
May 19, 2018
Great Counting Book
September 13, 2018
Fun and challenging counting book with animals hidden among nature scenes. Loved the quetzal - the national bird of Guatemala!!
May 8, 2022
Absolutely gorgeous illustrations! Very artistic and makes it more fun to read a million time
April 17, 2012
One Gorilla: A Counting Book by Atsuko Morozumi was an absolutely incredible book. The artwork was phenomenal to say the least. Every illustration was extremely realistic and the way it was designed was extremely interesting. Each page offered additional challenges to find the hidden animal. As a puzzle fan this book was very entertaining for me. This book is a very fun and thought provoking book.
March 31, 2013
The pictures are absolutely beautiful and very realistic. With each turning of the page this book provides the reader with a new scene, and new animals to find. As you count from 'One Gorilla' to 'Ten Cats' children will be searching to find each and every animal among the flowers, trees, and waves. Then, at the back, all the animals are drawn in a line for easy counting. This is a great read-together counting practice book!
Read-aloud
Counting
Teaching children about colorful text.
Read-aloud
Counting
Teaching children about colorful text.
May 22, 2013
Genre: Informational
Age: 3-5
Summary: In this beautifully illustrated informational picture book, a gorilla is the star. On each page, the author lists and illustrates her favorite things; counting them....always including one gorilla.
Reflection: I like the second to last page where it spells out the number, shows the number numerically, spells the name and then shows the same number of pictures. I think kids will learn a lot from that.
Age: 3-5
Summary: In this beautifully illustrated informational picture book, a gorilla is the star. On each page, the author lists and illustrates her favorite things; counting them....always including one gorilla.
Reflection: I like the second to last page where it spells out the number, shows the number numerically, spells the name and then shows the same number of pictures. I think kids will learn a lot from that.
September 20, 2011
I liked this counting book because it provides an additional challenge to a kid, to find the "gorilla" on each page. The illustrations are very realistic, depicting a species in the wild. The book starts off with the gorilla eating a bunch of bananas and ends wondering were the gorilla went. The gorilla is sound asleep under a banana tree. It just simply made me smile.
April 1, 2013
Illustrated by Atsuko Morozumi. This is a story about a gorilla going through the jungle, gardens and by the sea counting the different animals that he sees. The text is simple and it recaps all of the animals and the number of each at the end. The illustrations are beautiful and very detailed. It is a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book Award winner.
August 16, 2012
Was fun to dig this out today after E. said gorilla ("rilla") for the first time after we read a baby board book with a picture of one. This gorilla counting story is quite subtle and gorgeous and will keep her entertained for years.
February 25, 2014
Lovely illustrations in this counting book and the reader must look into the landscapes to find the animals being counted. The counting beings and ends with one gorilla. I will be looking for other titles by this illustrator.
October 3, 2016
As the story goes on and its counting and adding it become repetitive and predictable. This a awesome book to read aloud to a pre-k through first grade class. The pictures make it easy to find what they are counting, and can be used to count as a class as the story goes on.
September 18, 2007
My favourite book when I was little.
August 15, 2008
A look and find book with beautiful illustrations and a sense of humor.
August 20, 2009
I really liked this counting book, especially because it encourages additional observation of the illustration to "find" the gorilla on each page.
August 1, 2010
This is a very sweet and simple counting book, good for babies and toddlers, but even older children can enjoy its beautiful artwork.
September 13, 2010
Fine pictures good pattern, one puzzle - Why are there pandas and snow?
February 11, 2011
Great counting book...a bit more challenging than your typical breed.
November 29, 2013
This was beautifully illustrated!
February 12, 2015
Few words and beautiful illustrations. The BEST kind of counting books! Things to count, but lots of things to talk about as well.
October 12, 2022
One of the first book that a read in English when I was young, and it will be my first English book that my son would read
Read
May 2, 2016This book is a great book for counting as the book talks about all of the animals involved. It's called one gorilla because among all of the other animals the narrator loves the gorilla the most.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews