Good Morning, Gorillas is the twenty-sixth installment to the Magic Tree House series.
Synopsis[]
The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie to an African rainforest, where the siblings encounter gorillas and learn to communicate with them.
Chapters[]
- Dark and Rainy
- Cloud Forest
- Bu-bu
- Nightmare
- Silverback
- Good Morning, Gorillas
- Eating Out
- A Special Language
- Good-bye, Gorillas
- A Special Magic
Plot[]
At 5 A.M., Annie woke Jack up so they could go back to the magic tree house to learn some more special magic. It was dark and raining but Annie insisted. Anyway, they already learned theater magic from William Shakespeare with scrolls as proof. Morgan left a new rhyme:
To find a special kind of magic
in worlds so far apart,
speak in a special language,
talk with your hands and heart.
They were going to an African rain forest, although Annie was a little worried as she remembered all the animals in the Amazon.
This rain forest was covered in fog due to being high in the mountains. When Jack read about the animals, Annie was eager to meet gorillas. They walked to a tree that looked like an armchair, when they found a small gorilla, Annie named her Bu-bu. Jack was worried that there might be a black leopard nearby. Annie tried to climb a tree to follow Bu-bu but fell. Jack ran to get the umbrella and flashlight, night was falling and a storm was coming.
Jack was feeling troubled, he soon found ten gorillas and Annie fast asleep on the grass. One gorilla was the silverback, the leader, and he was seeing Jack as a threat. He went crazy, Jack read that he has to act like the gorilla to get close. It worked, and Jack managed to wake Annie up, she admitted she didn’t know where she was due to it being dark. They met another baby gorilla named Ho-ho; they wanted the two to follow them.
The gorillas had breakfast and didn’t seem to find the rain, but Big Guy, the silverback, didn’t like Jack taking notes. Ho-ho gave him a twig, but having tasted a terrible leaf, he put it in his backpack “for later.” The berries Ho-ho’s mother gave him were much better, now Jack was having fun.
When the rain stopped, the gorillas got ready for their naps. Jack read that gorillas, like one named Koko, can learn sign language. Annie realized that this is what Morgan was referring to in her rhyme. Together, Jack, Annie, Bu-bu, and Ho-ho made the sign for “I love you.” However, while they were playing, a black leopard appeared! Jack managed to scare it off using Big Guy’s tactic. The gorilla was so proud of him, especially for saving Little Guy, it was then that they went home.
The weather was the same in Frog Creek, Jack said that loving gorillas gives him greater knowledge than taking notes. He decided to give the twigs Ho-ho gave him to Morgan as a representation for the magic of animals.