“In the absence of love and belonging, there will always be suffering.” Brene Brown
Growing Up Gorilla
When I was asked to participate in the Growing Up Gorilla Blog Tour, the answer was immediately “yes!” Anyone that knows me well, knows how much I love monkeys and gorillas. When this book arrived, I immediately loved the story and how it was formatted and written.
Growing Up Gorilla by Clare Hodgson Meeker is a true animal story about a 19-year old mother gorilla named Nadiri who gave birth to her first baby at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle in 2015. Within minutes of the birth, instead of picking her up, Nadiri walked away from her newborn. How would the zoo help Nadiri bond with her baby?
Reading Growing Up Gorilla
This book is a beautiful book that is full of magnificent heartwarming pictures of Nadiri, Yola and other gorillas that live in the habitat. When I read Growing Up Gorilla to my son, we read it over about four nights. It is also ideal for reading at mealtime!
As we read each chapter, my son and had a great discussion about the emotions of the different gorillas and what the zoo was doing to help facilitate the bond between Mom and baby. The embedded facts with visuals can help both parents and children understand these intelligent animals and how similar they are to us as humans. How are we the same? How are we different?
Author and educator Clare Hodgson Meeker helps children understand these similarities and differences. This well written book is full of emotion, anticipation and suspense about the relationship between Nadiri and her baby Yola. It’s an ideal book to start a discussion about bonding, relationships and our innate need for social closeness.
Support Conservation
Included in Growing Up Gorilla are six chapters, information about protecting gorillas around the world, the authors note, glossary and an index. To learn more about helping to save gorillas and support conversation, check out the organizations and their websites, Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project and the Projet Protection des Gorilles in Gabon Rescue . Help support the Woodland Park Zoo who changed the lives of theses gorillas forever.