Jennifer Bove - I Wish I Was a Gorilla: I Wish I Was a Gorilla

What if you wished you were a gorilla?
Then you became a young gorilla.
Could you eat like a gorilla?
Sleep like a gorilla?
Live in a gorilla family?
And would you want to? Find out!

Where would you live?
Gorillas live in African rainforests.
Many trees and plants grow there.
Rainforests stay green all year.
The weather is often cloudy
with lots of rainy days.

Do you play outside
on rainy days?

What would your family be like?
A gorilla family is called a troop.
The troop has one father gorilla.
He is called a silverback because
of the light- colored fur that grows
on his back.

He leads the troop as they move
around the forest.
He finds good things to eat
and cozy places to sleep at night.

There are many mother gorillas
that live in a troop.
A mother gorilla feeds milk
to her baby.
She cuddles and kisses her baby.
A baby gorilla rides on its moms back
wherever she goes.

Gorillas watch their babies closely
to keep them safe.

When a dangerous animal comes near,
a mother gorilla picks up
her baby and runs.
A father gorilla chases
the animal away.

How would you learn to be a gorilla?
As baby gorillas grow bigger,
they begin to play a lot.
Playing helps young gorillas learn
to move like grown- up gorillas.
They run around and climb trees.

What games do you
play with friends?

Gorillas play with friends, too.
They wrestle and chase one another.
Playing games teaches them
how to get along with other gorillas.

How would you talk?
Gorillas grunt to say Im happy.
They chuckle to say Thats funny.
A hoot says, Im excited!
A bark or scream says, Im scared!
A silverback smacks his chest loudly
to say, Stay away from my troop!

What would you
say in gorilla?

What would you eat?
Gorillas eat plants.
They like leaves and stems.
They also eat roots and fruits.
Sometimes they eat insects, too.
Older gorillas show young ones
which plants are good to eat.

If you ate like a
gorilla, what food
would you miss?

How would you wash up?
Gorillas help one another stay clean.
This is called grooming.

They pick dirt and bugs off friends.
They use their fingers and teeth
to comb one anothers hair.

Where would you sleep?
Young gorillas sleep in tree nests
made of leaves and branches.
Sometimes their mothers join them.
Silverbacks sleep in ground nests.
The troop goes to sleep at sunset
and wakes up at sunrise.

Would you like to
sleep in a tree?

Would you like to
grow up that fast?

How would growing up change you?
Young gorillas grow up pretty fast.
By the time they are four years old,
they find their own food
and build their own nests.
They leave their troop by age ten
and form new troops of their own.

Being a gorilla could be cool