Editorial ReviewsEditors recommendation
From Publishers Weekly
Universally understandable subject matter and a narrative conveyed almost entirely through pictures mark this as an ideal title for beginners. A zookeeper makes his nightly rounds, bidding good night to a gorilla, a lion, a giraffe and so on. He doesnt know that the gorilla has procured his keys and is unlocking each animals cage; a jungly crowd files quietly behind the keeper as he walks home and crawls into bed. When his wife says, "Good night, dear," seven voices reply, "Good night," and its up to the missus to return the mischievous menagerie. Although Rathmanns illustrations lack the artistic ingenuity she displayed in Ruby the Copycat and Bootsie Barker Bites , the author/artist connects with her audience on several levels. Children can identify with the animals, who have toys in their cages (the elephant has a plush Babar) and resist being left alone in their "rooms" all night; they will also enjoy some minor subplots. Some details prove questionable (for example, one overdrawn visage of Mrs. Zookeeper seems blurry, particularly because shes rendered with a few simple lines elsewhere), yet these considerations take a back seat to Rathmanns comic exuberance. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 4-6. In this limited-word picture book, a gorilla follows the zookeeper as he says good-night to his charges. What the zookeeper doesnt know is that the mischievous gorilla has snatched his keys and is letting out the animals almost as fast as the zookeeper can lock them up. The animals follow him to his house and into the bedroom, where, in an amusing pitch-black spread, a pair of worried wide-open eyes let the zookeepers wife know that she and her husband are not alone. Jaunty four-color artwork carries the story and offers more with every look.Ilene Cooper
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-A mischievous little gorilla lifts the zoo keepers keys on the first page of this sparely worded picture book. The brightly colored illustrations basically tell the entertaining story as the gorilla tags along behind the man, gleefully freeing all of the other animals, who then follow him single file into his neat little house. It is his unruffled wife who, without disturbing her sleepy husband, calmly returns the creatures to their cages. Even she, however, does not notice the wily gorilla, who, still in possession of the keys, returns to the house, slips into the big bed, and curls up contentedly between the people for the night. A clever, comforting bedtime story.
Jan Shepherd Ross, Dixie Elementary Magnet School, Lexington, KY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
