  | If you make a call on a banana phone Author: Sterer, Gideon | |
| Price: $23.98 | ||
Summary:
If you make a call on a banana phone, who will answer? What will you talk about? Will you share secrets or ask questions? No one knows what will happen, really.
| Illustrator: | Hughes, Emily |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (10/01/25)
Booklist (+) (09/01/25)
Full Text Reviews:
Other - 06/02/2025 Calling on the concept of the banana phone and hewing closely to the prose stylings of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Sterer (Treehouse Town) asks readers to entertain the notion of a gorilla answering a call by picking up a banana receiver on the line’s other end. For the book’s human protagonist, a seeming middle child with a bowl haircut who’s apparently caught between a scowling older sibling and a busy infant, this link becomes a much-needed balm. The rung-up gorilla proves a perfect chat chum, listening attentively ("If you are calling just because, that’s ok"), appreciating the youth’s humor ("There aren’t many jokes in the jungle"), and affirming the child as a reliable companion ("By now the gorilla will probably trust you and might share a secret"). Digital illustrations from Hughes (the Charlie & Mouse series) pair Rousseau-like jungle landscapes with more sparsely detailed scenes of human home life-sometimes contrasting environments, sometimes creating comical mirror images. The story takes one more fanciful turn when the gorilla and pals pay a visit, suggesting that the best connection is about finding someone on one’s wavelength-banana or otherwise. Human characters are portrayed with pale skin and dark hair. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) - Copyright 2025
