Margaret Mahy - The Gargling Gorilla

Three short zany stories, all featuring weird and wonderful animals with illustrations by Tony Ross.The Gargling Gorilla, The Runaway Reptiles and The Dog Magician – three hilarious stories in one volume from an award-winning author with a wicked sense of humour.The Gargling Gorilla is a perfext text for confident young readers, with its accumulative storyline, use of repetition and alliteration and humour. Tim is animal-sitting for a neighbour who tells him which animal has which food and where it is kept. So, for example, 'The cat likes cat snacks and the cat-snack pack is in the tall cupboard. The tall cupboard is beside the fridge, and the fridge is over there on the other side of the sink. However, when the vulture sees the cat being fed, he will get a little peckish. SO the vulture chunks are inside the fridge…' etc. After a long list of instructions Tim finally hears 'and the gorilla is in the cupboard under the sink.' Tim is hugely inventive and manages to feed all the animals successfully without disturbing the gorilla. When the animal-owner comes home, he discovers that there is no gorilla under the sink – just a griller to toast his sarnies with.The real gorilla was out for the evening! This, and the other two stories, will have young readers chortling with laughter and Tony Ross's illustrations enhance the text perfectly.