This is a beautiful and timeless story by renowned author-illustrator Anthony Browne, and a true Year 1 classic read.

This story follows a lonely girl called Hannah, who loves gorillas and longs for her Dad to spend time with her, perhaps taking her to the zoo. The night before her birthday, Hannah’s toy Gorilla magically comes alive and takes her on brilliant adventures, visiting the cinema, a cafe and the zoo, where they meet the real life gorillas. The next morning Hannah celebrates with her dad and wonders whether her night time adventures were as real as they felt.

This is a really unique and interesting picture book – not one to be rushed over but one to spend time thinking about and discussing. The story is emotive and thought-provoking, and the illustrations are rife with intriguing details (including repeated gorilla shapes and patterns to spot everywhere) and evoke the depth of the characters’ unspoken emotions.

I adore this first class picture book and, even now, find something new to consider on every read.