Fact Friday: Growing Up Gorilla: how a zoo baby brought her family together by Clare Hodgson Meeker

Image: Lerner 

Growing Up Gorilla: how a zoo baby brought her family together by Clare Hodgson Meeker. 48 p. Millbrook Press/ Lerner Publishing Group, September, 2019. 9781541542402. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Fact Friday features Growing Up Gorilla: how a zoo baby brought her family together by Clare Hodgson Meeker. Mothers, regardless of species learn how to be mothers from their mothers. What happens when a baby is rejected by her mother? Keepers at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington, stepped in nineteen years ago to raise Nadiri when her Lowland Gorilla mama refused to care for her. Now that Nadiri was about to become a mother, zookeepers worried that she would also reject her infant and devised a care routine that would encourage Nadiri to bond with her infant. Look at that face on the cover. How could one not? 

Meeker relates the story conversationally, in short chapters filled with full-color photos, charts and text-boxes. Back matter consists of an Author's Note, Acknowledgments, Glossary, and a More About Gorillas section that lists two pages of books, websites and videos for curious readers. The bright pops of color throughout, such as purple lines framing the many pictures, red caption boxes and green backgrounds and accenting marks enliven the presentation. 

Growing Up Gorilla is an excellent addition to any STEM collection. Hand it to your animal lovers. It just might inspire the next generation of zoologists.