This is the heart-warming tale of a gorilla and his tiny friend, from the master picturebook-maker. A very special gorilla is taught a very special skill: sign language. He appears to have everything he needs, but one day he signs that he is said and needs a friend. His keepers bring him a tiny cat called Beauty and the two of them become inseparable. But when the gorilla gets angry and causes damage to the TV, will his keepers think him unfit to be friends with such a small, defenceless animal? Not if Beauty can think fast and prove what a special friendship they share…

Review

"Inspired by the story of Koko, the sign-language-fluent gorilla, and her pet kitten, Browne (Voices in the Park) imagines a similar interspecies friendship. His nameless signing gorilla seems to have everything he needs: a comfy chair (the upholstery looks positively Pierre Deux), a TV and a cheeseburger, but something is not right: the look on his face screams, "Is that all there is?" His ennui evaporates, however, with the arrival of a tiny kitten named Beauty. "They did everything together," Browne notes on one of the funny, touching spreads that ensue; in this particular case, he shows that these BFFs can't be separated even when nature calls. Playing with scale and perspective, continually recalibrating the level of detail (on some closeups, the individual hairs of the gorilla's fur coat are distinct), imbuing his simian hero with a range of emotion worthy of a young Marlon Brando, Browne creates an unpredictable visual vocabulary in sync with the unlikely but enduring affection between Beauty and beast." Ages 3-5. Publishers Weekly

Author Biography

Anthony has won many prizes for his work, including the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2000, for his services to children's literature - the first British illustrator to win the prize since 1956.