Good Night, Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann

Good Night, GorillaOne of the images that sticks with me from Good Night, Gorilla, by Peggy Rahmann, is a little mouse on every page, dragging a banana by a string.  Such artistic flourishes are the things that make or break children’s books.  Low on dialog, high in images, Rathmann’s night time story follows Joe the Zookeeper through the Zoo as he says “Good night” to a series of animals, including the book’s namesake, a gorilla.  After checking up on the gorilla, the gorilla quickly picks off the keeper’s keys and follows him to each habitat, releasing animals along the way.

The charm of Rathmann’s story lies, in part, in its simplicity.  The reader is invited to create his or her own description of each scene and editorialize accordingly.  This also gives older children that have perhaps only recently learned to read the chance to read something that is simple in terms of its text, but deep in terms of the creative power the images bestow.  Besides the mouse and banana, there are other little inside jokes contained in the pictures (such as a stuffed Babar in the Elephant’s cage, or the family portraits hanging in the zookeeper’s house), and children and parents alike should really enjoy sharing moments of recognition as they read this story together.

Good Night, Gorilla is a must have for all parents with children ages 1 through about 7, but children up to the age of 8 or 9 will no doubt enjoy adding their own narrative to this tale.  As with a great many children’s books, the story ends on a quiet note.  This makes it a perfect tale to end your child’s day.