Dumb Creatures

by Jeanne Willis, Nicola Slater (Illustrator)

Poignant, powerful and liberating - a book to get people talking Tom can hear. He can think. He just can't speak. But that doesn't mean he hasn't got anything to say...Tom's favourite place is the zoo. He enjoys sharing the word-less world of animals - and, just by watching them carefully, he can tell whether they're happy or sad, hungry or hot. But, talking to animals takes on a whole new meaning for Tom when he discovers that Zanzi the female gorilla can use sign language, and when Tom discovers Zanzi's baby is stolen, he decides it's time to speak out for animal rights. But with all the adults around him too busy yelling and shouting at each other to really listen, will anyone hear him?

Genres: Animals

86 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Jeanne 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.

Reviews

[Katie Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pair with Koko's Kitten and Anthony Browne's Little Beauty... re signing with animals... gorillas....

[Henna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astounding.