The Ape Star
Frida Nilsson
Book summary
A warm, unusual story about an orphan girl and a gorilla forming a family, while facing official scrutiny and prejudice. Its humour and tenderness sit alongside uncertainty about belonging and justice.
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Frida Nilsson
A warm, unusual story about an orphan girl and a gorilla forming a family, while facing official scrutiny and prejudice. Its humour and tenderness sit alongside uncertainty about belonging and justice.
Ellen Osborne
Expect an imaginative fantasy built around a dangerous darkness, paired roles and a developing relationship. Its strongest focus appears to be how people resist restrictive expectations while learning to trust someone very different from themselves.
Kiran Millwood Hargrave
A dark, atmospheric Dracula retelling centred on two sisters, captivity and resistance. Its strongest offering is the way female relationships, Traveller identity and collective courage reshape a familiar vampire story.
Clare Furniss
This offers a tense journey story alongside a close account of sibling care. Clem’s storytelling, memories and uncertain perspective add emotional depth, while the political setting invites reflection on belonging, surveillance, displacement and how families preserve hope under pressure.
Mary Norton
Expect an imaginative fantasy built around ordinary household objects seen from a tiny family’s perspective. Its appeal lies in clever details, family relationships and the contrast between the Borrowers’ hidden life and the human world.
Anthony Browne
A thoughtful, visually rich story about how the same encounter can look different from different standpoints. It offers emotional and social complexity without relying on a single narrator’s version of events.
Roald Dahl
Expect a brisk moral fantasy rather than a cosy animal adventure. The story turns outrage about hunting into comic, threatening reversal, asking readers to feel the consequences from the animals’ perspective.
Jackie Morris and James Mayhew
A familiar flood story is reframed through Mrs Noah’s quiet choices. It offers a warm, gently humorous read-aloud with striking artwork, while inviting attention to who gets to make decisions and whose actions are noticed.