Stories for Snuggling: Good Night, Gorilla

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

If you are not familiar with this book, you have got to check it out at the library! This is a favorite among all children I know. As the zookeeper is putting all the animals down for the night, the gorilla steals his keys. He continues to be sneaky by letting all the animals out of their cages, at which point, they follow the zookeeper into his house (kids get a kick out of this part!). The zookeeper’s wife tells him “goodnight,” at which time all the animals say “goodnight” back to her. Her face is priceless! She walks them back to the zoo for the evening, not knowing that the gorilla is following her back into the house. The book ends by them all settling down for the night in the zookeeper’s bed!

The neat thing about this book is that it is practically wordless. The only words that appear are “goodnight” and the animal names. It’s a lot of fun to add your own narration, as well as to have your children “read” the words. My kids love to act out parts, such as the zookeeper’s wife’s eyes, and the gorilla’s grin when he is discovered. What a fun read!