I Was Adopted by a Gorilla

One day an experienced car arrived at the children’s home “Liyutik,” where a nine-year-old girl, Yunna, lives. Who do you think was driving it? A gorilla! The children thought she came to pick out a little orphan for dinner. But it wasn’t dinner—she took Yunna in for upbringing!

Which child in the orphanage doesn’t dream of having a real home and loving parents? Each child longs most of all to find a mom with kind eyes and a beautiful haircut—a mom who hugs you gently, worries about you, and always comforts you. Yunna, who ended up in the gorilla’s lair, dreamed of such a mother.

This book is about how hard it is to accept parents the way they are. It’s not only a gift of fate and the fulfillment of a cherished wish—it’s also the appearance of something unknown and alien, the intrusion into a familiar life. And the two of them—a little girl and, at first glance, a frightening Gorilla—will have to experience a great deal together before they find a family in each other.

In 2011, “I Was Adopted by a Gorilla” was nominated for the prestigious German Children’s Literature Prize.

Frida Nilsson is a children’s writer, author of scripts for television and radio programs, and a television presenter. Her books were nominated for the Swedish August Strindberg Prize and the French “Ting Ting. I Love to Read” prize.