Parcel For Gorilla

By Shelley Knoll-Miller

Reviewed by Lara Cain Gray

Parcel For Gorilla is a companion read to Parcel For Penguin, and part of a series of 4 – so far. This lighthearted story makes clever use of the ‘what’s inside the box’ narrative trope to conjure a colourful page turner with a satisfying twist at the end.

Gorilla and his friends are trying to find food when a parcel arrives from Penguin. The monkeys hope for bananas. The hogs hope for peanuts. But Gorilla knows that Penguin’s package will be much more interesting than that!

This book features bright, bold illustrations that bring a sense of movement to every spread. The animals’ excitement is written all over their wide-eyed expressive faces, while onomatopoeia is dotted throughout the layout begging for read aloud fun. Poke! Prod! Gurgle! Snap!

Parcel For Gorilla is short on word count and big on energy. With plenty of high frequency and decodable words, it will be satisfying for developing readers to tackle alone, and most enjoyable as an interactive classroom read. Beware bedtimes, though, as I doubt you’d get away with reading this only once.

 Puffin Books, 2023