Library Book: Little Beauty (Rise and Shine) - Hardcover

National Geographic Learning

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763639591 ISBN 13: 9780763639594

Publisher: National Geographic School Pub, 2010

Synopsis

Once there was a very special gorilla. He had almost everything he needed. There was just one thing he didn't have: a friend. The keepers give him Beauty, a little cat who does everything with him. The text is heartwarming celebration of an unlikely friendship.

About this title

About the Author:

Anthony Browne, a Hans Christian Andersen Medalist, is the author-illustrator of many acclaimed books for children, including SILLY BILLY. He lives in Kent, England.

From School Library Journal:

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 3—This reworking of the classic tale of a beast transformed by unconditional love depicts the protagonist as a lumbering gorilla and Beauty as a petite cat. A red rose on the title page hints at what's to come. But wait! Alert readers will recognize this relationship, these very poses: here are Hanabi-Ko and All Ball from the real-life story of the sensitive, signing gorilla described by Francine Patterson in Koko's Kitten (Scholastic, 1985). Browne melds fact and fiction into a story that reads simply, but offers layers. Luscious, creamy pages provide contrast for the large, well-spaced font and the dark, furry figure that often bleeds off the page. Watercolor and pencil renderings capture the animal in moments of profound loneliness and extreme anger; he reacts to King Kong by smashing the TV in a page red with rage. Zookeepers fear for Beauty's safety, but her surprising intervention saves the day. Children will chuckle as they view the pair doing everything together, from using the bathroom to swinging from the lamp, like the mythical figure flying too close to the sun. (Bruegel's Fall of Icarus hangs in the background.) Browne's exquisite interpretation of a real-life gorilla is a welcome progression.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
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About this edition

• Publisher: National Geographic School Pub
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0763639591
• ISBN 13: 9780763639594
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32