Gorilla

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Draw inferences from written and visual text: Students will enhance their critical thinking skills by interpreting the story and artwork, supporting their understanding of the characters. Through this story, I was questioning a few things such as why is the father not talking to his child throughout the beginning book and where is the child’s mother. I was also wondering what the fathers job is as he works when the child is at school and he works at home. I was also wondering what happened at one section of the story as the child didn’t really have dinner it went from her sitting in her room to her then waking up after the dream I felt there was a chunk of the story missing and that there was more that was needing to be said. On the night before her birthday, Hannah was ‘tingling with excitement’. Can you think of other ways to describe how she was feeling? In the middle of the night, Hannah woke upand saw a very small parcel at the foot of thebed. It was a gorilla, but it was just a toy. Hannah loved gorillas. She loved reading about them, looking at films about them, and drawing them. Unfortunately, her hard-working and rather distant father never seemed to have the time to take her to the zoo to see them live. He was always busy working in the evenings, or too tired at the weekend. Then, on the night before her birthday, Hannah dreams that the toy gorilla her father has given her comes to life and takes her on a magical night-time trip to the zoo, the movies, and a restaurant. It's a wonderful experience, but no more wonderful than her father's offer, the next day, to go to the zoo together...

The next morning Hannah excitedly jumps out of bed, sprinting, to tell dad her news of her amazing journey. He approaches her “happy birthday love, do you want to go to the zoo?” The reader can instantly feel Hannah’s joy, she is glowing with happiness; her one wish has come true. A less well-executed story may have started with something like, “Tomorrow it was Hannah’s birthday…” It is particularly masterful that Anthony Browne withholds this information until the conclusion. Why? Because the brightness associated with birthdays lightens the ending. Since the first part of the book is melancholic, a birthday tone would not fit well. Write in-role to explore and develop an understanding of character: By writing from the perspective of the characters, students will gain a deeper empathy for them and a more nuanced understanding of their motivations and emotions. When they arrived at the zoo it was closed, andthere was a high wall all around. “Never mind,”said the gorilla, “up and over!”The next morning a very excited Hannah rushes downstairs to tell Daddy all about her adventure, but before she can say anything Daddy wishes her a Happy Birthday and asks her if she’d like to go to the zoo! Hannah is extremely happy.

Hannah would like nothing more than to spend time with her father; except he’s always working, “not now, I’m busy, maybe tomorrow” is the usual response. The disappointment, isolation and sadness Hannah feels immediately echoes with the reader. This was always one of my favourite books as a young reader and probably even before I could read it myself! Hannah and the gorilla see the primates at the zoo. Can you find out about primates? What different types of primate are there? How are they similar / different? Themes of childhood loneliness is very strong in the first half of the story and whilst Hannah dreams of trips to both the zoo and cinema, it's nice that she actually gets an even better treat on her birthday.often contain narrative framing devices (e.g., stories within stories, characters reading about their own fictional lives) Hannah loved gorillas. She read books aboutgorillas, she watched gorillas on television, andshe drew pictures of gorillas. But she had neverseen a real gorilla.