2008-07-25 English Association Best Books Award Winner

Winner of the English 4-11 2007 Award for Key Stage 1 Non-Fiction
"Swinging and stomping,
chattering and playing,
eating and sleeping..."

These are the things that the five great apes love to do. This exciting book combines arresting images and an interesting written text to tell us about the increasingly rare Orang-utan, Chimp, Bonobo and Gorilla. It then explains that we human beings are the fifth member of the great ape family and the one least under threat of extinction. Large double page spreads, with print and pictures springing from a white background, have the generosity of space needed to give us a sense of the size and vigour of these animals. The large Orang-utan leans out from a tree branch, her baby clinging to her chest. Two chimps are shown in intense concentration using a long blade of grass as a tool to entice termites from their mound. The habitats of the different apes are subtly indicated. The large format, excellent variety of print of different sizes and fonts and exceptionally affecting pictures make this an ideal book for the 5-8 age range to share and enjoy.