GORILLA GARAGE

A boy and his dad are out for a drive when their car breaks down. A tow truck happens by…driven by a gorilla! Back at the gorilla garage, the humans wait with chimps while gorillas fix their car. When Kong the movie actor causes a scene, the boy slips out and spies orangutans and baboons before the gorillas put him behind the wheel of the car. Dad tries to intervene, but the mechanic says the “really expensive” repair will be free—if the boy drives home. Shulman’s tale is too often slave to its rhyme and not nearly as much fun as the premise might promise. The boy’s surprised to discover the gorilla garage exists, but then he reports, “That’s where I found an orangutan crew, / pumping the gas as orangutans do”—how could he know? There’s no reason for the gorillas to insist the boy drive, and the terms ape and monkey are used interchangeably. Nguyen’s Photoshop-colored pen-and-ink illustrations are by far the best feature. This only warrants purchase where simian stories are in high demand. (Picture book. 4-8)