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Gorilon
While searching for her missing baby, a mother mouse encounters a gorilla who chases her all over the world, from China to the Arctic, and when he finally catches her, she gets an unexpected surprise.
Paperback
First published June 1, 2006
42 people want to read
About the author
Jeanne Willis
482 books116 followersJeanne Willis was born in St Albans and trained as an advertising copywriter at Watford College. She worked for various agencies creating press adverts and TV, cinema and radio commercials. She is now a full-time writer and has published over 80 books. Her hobbies include gardening, reading (non-fiction), natural history and collecting caterpillars. Jeanne has also worked on scripts for TV, including POLLY POCKET and THE SLOW NORRIS, and a pilot TV series for DR XARGLE. She lives in North London with her husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
March 31, 2020
A mother mouse, frantically searching for her lost child, is horrified to see a massive gorilla emerge from the depths of the forest and head in her direction. Despite his shouted command that she "Stop!," the mouse turns tail and flees, convinced that the gorilla means her harm. Racing around the world, through China, American, Australia and the Arctic, the mouse stays one step ahead of her terrifying pursuer, continually lamenting - "He'll catch me! / He'll squash me and scratch me, / He'll mince me and mash me, / And crunch me up for lunch!" - until finally she runs out of steam. Will the gorilla harm her? Or has he been pursuing her for another reason...?
The answer to this question is fairly obvious - I knew from the very beginning, just how the story would turn out, and why the gorilla appeared just when he did - but getting to the conclusion is half the fun. The repetition of the mouse's refrain keeps the tension alive in the narrative, while Tony Ross's energetic pastel illustrations grab the reader's attention, and keep it. This is only the third picture-book I have read, from the prolific British children's author, Jeanne Willis - the first two were the adorable The Bog Baby , and The King of Tiny Things - and the first from illustrator Tony Ross, but I suspect it will not be my last! Recommended to young readers who enjoy animal tales, or stories with sing-song refrains.
The answer to this question is fairly obvious - I knew from the very beginning, just how the story would turn out, and why the gorilla appeared just when he did - but getting to the conclusion is half the fun. The repetition of the mouse's refrain keeps the tension alive in the narrative, while Tony Ross's energetic pastel illustrations grab the reader's attention, and keep it. This is only the third picture-book I have read, from the prolific British children's author, Jeanne Willis - the first two were the adorable The Bog Baby , and The King of Tiny Things - and the first from illustrator Tony Ross, but I suspect it will not be my last! Recommended to young readers who enjoy animal tales, or stories with sing-song refrains.
April 27, 2018
Un libro sobre el engaño de las apariencias y la dicha de no juzgar. Está bonito, pero me resultó forzado y muy evidente en su "moraleja". Ya no quiero libros con moralejas, osh. La ilustración es bellísima y muy potente, tan sólo vean la portada.
June 23, 2019
My three year old loves this book. She has asked me to read it several times each day since we brought it home from the library.
She laments the mouse’s misinterpretation of the gorilla each time, and rejoices when the mouse discovers the gorilla’s true nature at the end every time we read it.
She laments the mouse’s misinterpretation of the gorilla each time, and rejoices when the mouse discovers the gorilla’s true nature at the end every time we read it.
May 21, 2019
Okay book. Quick read. Decent illustrations. Not the best, but enjoyable for a brief story.
May 9, 2018
But in reality, gorillas actually are dangerous.
This book is inane. It's by the same author as "Tadpole's Promise." I wouldn't say it's as bad, though.
There's a mouse whose baby is missing and she's looking for him (in the rain forests, I guess that's where lives?) and then a gorilla comes up after her. She's afraid of the gorilla, so she runs away from the gorilla for pages and pages... The gorilla just keeps following her and yelling, "Stop! Stop!" She goes so far that she ends up going to China, America, Australia, and finally Antarctica where she can't escape the gorilla. She's afraid that he's gonna eat her, but the gorilla says, "Here he is," and that he found the baby mouse in the forest and was trying to give him back the whole time. "Who are you running from?" And the mouse goes, "Oh... nobody you know! I'm not frightened now," And the gorilla says, "You know, it's scary out there. Let me carry you home."
This woman is the master of irritating twist endings based on all the intelligent animal characters being ignorant of their own biology and ecosystems. Why does nobody else say, "You know what, gorillas don't like eat mice," or anything like that? Even the cartoon "Bubble Guppies" talks about gorillas being vegetarians. You would think that sentient prey animals would be more aware of the different species that dwell in their vicinity, which ones are dangerous, and which aren't. Is she also afraid of parrots? Large frogs? Seriously, if there's a gorilla following you all around the freaking world but maybe you should try to figure out why.
Message: Big, scary things just want to be your friend.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
This book is inane. It's by the same author as "Tadpole's Promise." I wouldn't say it's as bad, though.
There's a mouse whose baby is missing and she's looking for him (in the rain forests, I guess that's where lives?) and then a gorilla comes up after her. She's afraid of the gorilla, so she runs away from the gorilla for pages and pages... The gorilla just keeps following her and yelling, "Stop! Stop!" She goes so far that she ends up going to China, America, Australia, and finally Antarctica where she can't escape the gorilla. She's afraid that he's gonna eat her, but the gorilla says, "Here he is," and that he found the baby mouse in the forest and was trying to give him back the whole time. "Who are you running from?" And the mouse goes, "Oh... nobody you know! I'm not frightened now," And the gorilla says, "You know, it's scary out there. Let me carry you home."
This woman is the master of irritating twist endings based on all the intelligent animal characters being ignorant of their own biology and ecosystems. Why does nobody else say, "You know what, gorillas don't like eat mice," or anything like that? Even the cartoon "Bubble Guppies" talks about gorillas being vegetarians. You would think that sentient prey animals would be more aware of the different species that dwell in their vicinity, which ones are dangerous, and which aren't. Is she also afraid of parrots? Large frogs? Seriously, if there's a gorilla following you all around the freaking world but maybe you should try to figure out why.
Message: Big, scary things just want to be your friend.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
October 1, 2019
A mother mouse loses her baby and goes in search of it. Along the way she meets a gorilla who scares her and she runs. Well, she runs and runs because the gorilla is now chasing her. A bit silly, but kids will probably enjoy it, along with the twist ending which parents will guess from the beginning but kids will enjoy discovering. A decent, but not outstanding, group read aloud.
August 14, 2020
Such an ominous title and cover for what turns out to be a terrific title about a mouse who is looking for her baby when she is approached by a huge gorilla! The terrified little mouse runs away, only to be chased by the gorilla as little mouse runs from continent to continent until she is finally cornered. What will happen?!
January 15, 2024
Listen there are books that my boy loves and I love reading to him. This isn't one of them. It's not a mommy favorite, but boy oh boy it's an Oliver favorite. We picked it up from the library a few days ago and have read it at least five times so far.
March 28, 2025
This book is a classic! When my teenagers were babies, we use to read this book. I recently bought another copy, because our original was destroyed. I keep the new one safe, and still read it to our younger kids. Definitely one of my kiddos’ favorites!
November 10, 2017
Moral of the story: never judge a book by its cover. This could also be a useful book to use when teaching prepositions.
December 27, 2017
Cute, but that mouse is a hysterical mess.
March 28, 2019
Proper strange and silly but my 2yo likes it
September 16, 2019
Not all gorillas are mean and scary.
September 23, 2019
This book is very repetitive and could be used to talk about rhyme.
March 9, 2020
A preschool and up book about a mother mouse who looses her child and then asks many animals if they have seen her baby until she is chased by a gorilla.
January 20, 2021
Recomendación de Aprende en Casa 2021, las lindas ilustraciones enmarcan este interesante cuento para expresión e inteligencia emocional.
November 6, 2024
One pongoid's relentless quest to reunite a mouse with its timid mother. But why?
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February 19, 2015Gorilla! Gorilla! is a story about a mother mouse in search of her baby in the forest. She becomes hopeless when a gorilla crosses her path. She becomes so frightened that she runs as fast and as far as she can. Meanwhile the gorilla is following her telling her to "STOP". The chase goes from the forest to America, to Australia, and finally ending in Antarctica. The mouse becomes so tired that she can not run awhile any longer. It is then that the gorilla reveals that she has had her baby all along. If she would have listened to the gorilla, rather than be afraid, she would have still been in the forest with her baby. The text in this book is interesting in itself because of the different font size and shape. THe illustrations look to be of color pencil and are detailed. Good book for k-3rd
March 15, 2014
When a mouse goes searching for her missing baby, she is chased from continent to continent by a fierce looking gorilla. The children in my 3-5 year old storytime were mesmerized by this story. I paired it with "Meet the Howlers" by April Pulley Sayre to talk about fiction and non-fiction. Retelling it with props would nurture narrative skills, the ability to tell stories and describe a sequence of events. Or you can talk about the rhyming words inside the mouse's repeated chant and how rhyming play helps children hear the smaller sounds in words, another important early literacy skill.
September 10, 2008
How cute! I liked the pictures. I liked the little rhyme the mother mouse kept using. And I loved the ending. But it doesn't stick to the China-theme for Book Time, since it goes all over the world. And it really is for a Pre-K audience. Possibly not a Toddler audience because there were parts that actually did seem a little scary. Great illustrations on that ape! Good for a story time and a lap-sit.
November 23, 2008
An interesting story about a scared little mouse, running all over the world to get away from a seemingly angry gorilla who is chasing her. The illustrations are interesting and though completely silly, the book entertains the kids.
September 19, 2012
I enjoyed this picture book which is for younger readers, but could definitely support the point of the "misunderstood and dangerous" gorilla. Definitely part of my text set with The One and Only Ivan.
August 20, 2014
A little story about a gorilla and mouse chase. Cute with repetitive verse so about half way through the book my five year old is saying it with me and the others like that they know what is coming. It was fun to travel around the world in the chase. Simple and fun.
July 8, 2015
A really good message about not judging someone by how they look or because of pre-conceived ideas. The three-year-old was able to cope with the quite scary pictures of the gorilla, as the text showed how wrong the little mouse was to be scared of him. The repetitive rhyme was fun too.
June 5, 2016
Picture Books, Mice, Fear, Gorilla, Humorous Stories
While searching for her missing baby, a mother mouse comes upon a big, scary gorilla. She runs away, but the gorilla chases her, no matter where she runs.
While searching for her missing baby, a mother mouse comes upon a big, scary gorilla. She runs away, but the gorilla chases her, no matter where she runs.
June 3, 2008
Story of a mouse running around the world from a gorilla. Use of repetitive verse. Cute illustrations
June 26, 2008
This was a cute little story about being brave. Nice illustrations.
While we liked it, we didn't love it and probably won't read again. A better choice than some though!
While we liked it, we didn't love it and probably won't read again. A better choice than some though!
December 31, 2009
Did fun voices for the characters. Margaret loves it.
January 17, 2014
Geweldig boek !
Mooie tekeningen, maar vooral een heel grappig verteld verhaal. De overdrijvingen, de paniek, de geslaagde herhalingen...
Dit is een supertof boek om voor te lezen.
Mooie tekeningen, maar vooral een heel grappig verteld verhaal. De overdrijvingen, de paniek, de geslaagde herhalingen...
Dit is een supertof boek om voor te lezen.
September 10, 2016
Pretty good overall, but really sad at times. And that one picture of a gorilla is rather terrifying.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews