One Gorilla: A Counting Book
by Anthony Browne (Author) Anthony Browne (Illustrator)
"Browne's exquisite precision, with delicate hatching of fur and careful stippled delineation of facial lines, becomes jubilant with color and personality." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
What better attention-getter for small children than primates in all their variety? And who better to render them than Anthony Browne? In this elegant counting book, the author-illustrator outdoes himself with a vivid presentation of primates from gorillas to gibbons, macaques to mandrills, ring-tailed lemurs to spider monkeys.
With his striking palette, exquisite attention to detail, and quirky flair for facial expressions, Anthony Browne slyly extends the basic number concept into a look at similarities and differences--portraying an extended family we can count ourselves part of.
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Publishers Weekly
Former U.K. Children's Laureate Browne has always been interested in primates, as books like Gorilla and his Willy the Chimp series have made clear. Now, the static nature of a counting book allows him to devote maximum attention to each animal, from a single gorilla to 10 lemurs. Each arresting portrait fills a full spread against a backdrop of white. Larger, rarer primates appear first, progressing to smaller, more numerous species like macaques and colobus monkeys. The key to the book's impact lies in the dignity of a portrait sitting that Browne confers on creatures more commonly seen behind glass walls. Every face has a discernible personality. Even the lemurs are distinct individuals, with variations in snouts, eyes, and ears. Browne follows the series with a meticulously painted closeup of another primate—himself—and then a group portrait of humans of many ages and ethnicities. "All primates. All one family. All my family," he writes, "and yours!" Browne's work exemplifies the way close observation of animals leads, for both artist and viewer, to deepened respect—and, as he hopes, to a sense of kinship. Ages 3-up. (Feb.)
Copyright 2012 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2—In a large, lavish format featuring exquisitely detailed paintings, Browne begins this counting book with an animal he has illustrated many times before-the gorilla-along with nine other members of the primate family. After 10 lemurs, he concludes the counting experience by emphasizing humankind's genetic link to these mammals, and he makes this connection powerfully-"All primates. All one family. All my family... and yours." Through the starkly realistic mixed-media art, he imbues each animal with distinctive facial features, especially the eyes. The eight macaques appear hauntingly human as they stare out at viewers with soulful, intelligent eyes. A generous amount of white space and varied composition make the counting clear. On the title page children may be confused by a single lemur featured directly under the title One Gorilla, and while the animals pictured encompass a wide variety of color tones in the wild, some of the vivid reds do not appear natural. Nevertheless, this is an arresting visual experience.—Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
—Publishers Weekly (starred review) The text is spare: "1 gorilla"; "2 orangutans"; "3 chimpanzees"; and so forth, concluding after "10 lemurs" with depictions of the author and an array of humans. The portraits, however, are extraordinary: Browne's exquisite precision, with delicate hatching of fur and careful stippled delination of facial lines, becomes jubilant with color and personality.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review) In this seemingly simple counting book from one to ten (plus a final coda), generous white space and classic type treatment balance expertly with large head-and-shoulders portraits of primates...Browne's watercolor technique is just about perfect, combining realism and exaggeration, mass and focus.
—The Horn Book (starred review) Browne really cranks up the color intensity in this gorgeous, large-trim portrait gallery of primates.
—Kirkus Reviews This is an arresting visual experience.
—School Library Journal A great spark for both science discussions and fun.
—Booklist It is difficult - possibly impossible - to remember a recent counting book that has clambered up out of the slough of "useful" into the rarefied strata of "stunning" and "memorable." Hats off to Anthony Browne for creating ONE GORILLA...This picture books invites the very youngest to gaze into the luminous eyes of their primate cousins and see a spirit as intense, as intricate and as important as their own.
—Washington Post Browne's gorgeous paintings bring real vibrancy to the animals' facial expressions and dramatically colored fur.
—Entertainment Weekly [D]on't be surprised if your children bring this one back to you again and again and again.
—San Francisco Book Review
JUV009030 - Juvenile Fiction | Concepts | Counting & Numbers
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
