Jonna lives in an orphanage whose manager is strict and obsessed with cleanliness. Like all the other children, Jonna has only one dream: to be adopted by a well-dressed mother who smells of perfume. But one day, a beat-up old car pulls up. The door opens and out step two thick hairy legs with muddy boots, followed by a belly as round as a barrel, and finally, a head like an overgrown pear. It's a gorilla! Surely the orphanage won't let a gorilla adopt a child. But, to Jonna's horror, the gorilla chooses her... Jonna sleeps in a hammock, and in the evenings the gorilla reads Dickens in her worn armchair. It turns out Jonna and the gorilla have a lot in common. But just when theyve started to get along, a man from the council threatens to send Jonna back to the orphanage. The Ape Star is a heartwarming and unconventional chapter book about love, adoption, friendship, and seeing from different perspectives. An animated adaption starring Stellan Skarsgrd (Thor: Ragnarok, Mamma Mia) is now showing worldwide. Nilsson has a peculiar power to make you remember exactly what it was like to be small, fierce, disempowered and six. The Times UK on Hattie A sparkling story Kirkus Reviews on Hattie and Olaf The Ice Sea Pirates is a wild adventure with a huge hearta beautiful book singing with hope and justice. Sarah Driver of The Huntress

 

 

This book has been graded for interest at 6-10 years.

There are 144 pages in this book. This book was published in 2022 by Gecko Press .

Johnette Downing is an award-winning and internationally recognized singer and songwriter. Her many accolades include eight Parents' Choice Awards, four iParenting Media Awards, and five National Parenting Publication Awards. She wrote and/or illustrated There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Bugs, Why the Crawfish Lives in the Mud, How to Dress a Po' Boy, Why the Oyster Has the Pearl, Why the Possum Has a Large Grin, Macarooned on a Dessert Island, The Fifolet, and other Pelican titles. Downing lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. Julia Marshall is a graphic designer and illustrator with skills in typography, textile design, video editing, and photo retouching. She received a degree in illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. She has illustrated three children's books, and her artwork has appeared in nola baby & family magazine and Charleston Magazine. She lives with her husband, Dylan, in New Orleans, Louisiana.