The Brave Little Gorilla

In The Brave Little Gorilla, readers are introduced to Little Gorilla who lives in a tropical forest with his beloved but aging grandfather. In the opening pages, Robert establishes the bond between grandfather and grandson as Little Gorilla is entrusted to fetch some eggs that had been left for Grandfather at the river’s edge by a crane. As Little Gorilla swings through the trees, his actions attract the interest of Vervet, a monkey, who decides to follow Little Gorilla to see what he is up to. When Little Gorilla picks up the eggs, the watching monkey concludes that the eggs had belonged to a nearby flamingo and that Little Gorilla has just stolen them, information that he quickly shares with another monkey. The two, now following Little Gorilla, see him take a feather from an ostrich and conclude that he stole it too, and they pass that information on to yet another monkey. When the trio observe Little Gorilla apparently biting Blue Monkey’s tail, they share that conclusion with yet a fourth monkey while adding “bully” to the names of “thief” and “scoundrel” they had previously applied to Little Gorilla When Little Gorilla returns home, the monkey quartet confront him with their accusations of his supposed wrongdoing. However, Little Gorilla’s activities had also been observed by another of the forest’s creatures, a small blue bird, and the bird explains what really happened as opposed to what the monkeys thought they saw happening. With the truth of Little Gorilla’s activities revealed, the four busybody monkeys are left embarrassed while the shaken but vindicated young gorilla is united with his grandfather.

Le Bec’s ink illustrations printed in Pantone colours utilize vivid, bold hues. Somewhere in each new setting for the story’s action, Le Bec has included a small blue bird that, on first reading, may seem to be just a decorative addition. However, as was seen, the bird plays an important role in the story’s conclusion.

From the contents of The Brave Little Gorilla, school-age children can learn the negative consequences of jumping to conclusions, gossiping and name calling, all of which may result in tarnishing the reputation of others. As the small bird says:

Before accusing someone of being a scoundrel or a thief, you should make sure you have seen with your own eyes and heard with your own ears.

The book clearly depicts the stress endured by the wrongfully accused. The Brave Little Gorilla provides a wonderful opportunity for young readers and caregivers to begin discussions on important and necessary life skills.