Killer Gorilla

When mouse loses her baby it seems that things couldn’t get any worse – that is until a huge, scary gorilla starts chasing after her. Mouse runs and runs – to China, to America, to Australia – with the gorilla in hot pursuit. Finally she reaches the Arctic and too exhausted to run any further she stops, wishing ‘she could see her baby once more before she is eaten’. But when gorilla gets close to her, he has a surprise for her cradled in his huge hands…

This dramatically entertaining story, punctuated on each continent by mouse’s rhythmic appeal to a bemused panda, chipmunk, and koala respectively (‘Help! Help! He’ll catch me!/He’ll squash me and scratch me/He’ll mince me and mash me/And crunch me up for lunch’) is illustrated in a freely expressive style by Tony Ross whose King Kong style gorilla contrasts amusingly with the diminutive and dainty mouse. When children, anxious about what will happen if mouse is caught by gorilla, discover just what he has cradled in his enormous hands, they will love being in on the joke. RS