A young gorilla wants to be as strong and brave as his father but everyone thinks he is young and rash. How can Pongo show how grown up he can be? Luckily, Pongo realises that being grown up isn’t just about being strong and brave! When his baby sister is born he learns how to be a grown up in other ways. ~ Julia Eccleshare
Pongo is a young gorilla who lives in the mountains of Africa. He has long glossy black hair and a black shiny nose. But Pongo can't wait to grow up, when he will have a silver back like his father's and a big chest that he can thump. Filled with gentle humour and comfort, Jill Tomlinson's animal stories have been enjoyed by children who want to snuggle down with a good read for decades.
This edition is stunningly illustrated by Paul Howard, making it an even more enjoyable story for young readers.
Jill Tomlinson never intended to be a writer. She trained as an opera singer, and then decided to have a family whilst her voice matured. But illness intervened, and she had to find another outlet for her energies. She started on a journalism course, and by the third lesson decided she wanted to write for children. So she did!
It did not come easily. Her first story, The Bus who went to Church, was rejected by sixteen publishers before it was accepted for a picture book. Several other picture books followed until she felt a need to stretch herself further. She wrote five short stories about a hen wanting to visit an aunt and her chicks, and Methuen thought that if she wrote another five stories on the same theme the book would fit well into their new ‘Read Aloud’ series.
