Julius, an African gorilla, finds a home in an American circus. One day he inadvertently frightens away his audience, and goes in search of them.

I saw the cover and thought - oh, yeh, I had this book! Not sure if I liked it. I think I did. Liked the cover, anyway! ( )

Davey and his father travel to Africa in search of animals for the circus. They find a gorilla named Julius and discover that the gorilla has some amazing skills: he can play football and use a fork and a spoon. And he can talk!

What will happen when Davey and his father take him to the circus?

Young readers will enjoy sharing the gorilla’s adventures and there are plenty of laughter-inducing antics to keep them involved in the story. But it’s the friendship between Davey and Julius that makes this story special. Older readers may be able to read the story independently.

This is a Weekly Reader “I Can Read” book.

Recommended. ( )

Syd Hoff was a Jewish-American cartoonist and children's book author, best known for his classic early reader Danny and the Dinosaur. Source: Wikipedia. "Julius" is the story of how a gorilla got to the circus.

In my opinion, I think this book is great for emerging readers. While the plot may not be top notch, it allows for students who depend highly on illustrations to read successfully and fluently. The plot involves a child coaxing a Gorilla to perform in his father’s circus. This engages young readers because to them animals have human –like qualities and they like to pretend that they can speak, make decisions, and the like. Because the plot hooks them in, they are able to focus on the writing. Most of the pages are taken up by illustrations, so there is little writing on each page. This allows students to use the imagery to figure out text by using context clues. Also, students who are emerging readers are not so overwhelmed by multiple lines of text and can focus on reading fluently. Additionally, the illustrations themselves depict scenes from the circus and the jungle, which is interesting to young readers. It enhances the story and gives them something to picture in their mind so that they can piece the story together while they are reading. There are pictures of the gorilla sitting at a table with the main character using a fork and knife and having conversation with people, which fits the personification in the text. The central idea of the story is that Julius, the gorilla, is a friendly circus member and enjoys being in the company of people. ( )