Home of Bestselling Author Patrick Wensink

I was happy to be interviewed by Tara Anderson for her brilliant Five Things Podcast, via Louisville, KY’s NPR station WFPL. I was asked to bring in five items that mean a lot to me and discuss them. This included my grandpa’s broken Timex watch, the complete lyrics of Johnny Mercer and more.

Thank you, Florida Times-Union, for this stellar review of Go Go Gorillas!

Beware: The subtitle of this book, “A romping bedtime tale” is a little misleading. Reading this book, with its infectious rhymes and swinging plotline, will encourage a lot more dancing than it will snoozing. Instead, use “Go Go Gorillas” for as a prelude to afternoon playtime.

Author Patrick Wensick is the best-selling author of five books for adults. “Go Go Gorillas” is his first book for youngsters. Here’s hoping he does more.

Today I got a big box of gorillas in the mail!

Available everywhere August 22, or right now in my living room.

A funny, exuberant rhyming bedtime story about what really goes on at the zoo at night. When kids visit the animals during the day, the gorillas are all lethargic. It turns out, they have been dancing all night. The zookeeper Jed tries to get them to go to sleep but eventually joins the dance party, too. The pictures have deep, vibrant colors and lots of action. The gorillas do lots of different kinds of dancing, such as the tango, the Charleston, reggae, funk, and even the robot. Some of the gorillas also act as disc jockeys and swing from the trees. The friendly gorillas look like they are having a great time. Kids will enjoy the rhymes in this funny, busy picture book, and the vibrant artwork adds to the fun.

VERDICT A rollicking read-aloud for storytime, but parents might want a quieter selection for ­bedtime.

–Debbie Tanner, S D Spady ­Montessori Elementary, FL

Go Go Gorillas is released in less than a month. August 22, to be exact!

Here is a teaser of all the fun.

Hmmm. I wonder if book store owners would be okay with me kicking off readings with one of these?

Apparently, these were not good enough to pass as my author photo for Go Go Gorillas.

Not sure why.

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Mega literary source, Kirkus, recently wrote a wonderful review of Go Go Gorillas:

“Little ones will enjoy these jammie-clad jams, though the book may inspire more dancing than snoozing.”

Actual conversation I had at a costume shop today: 

ME: “Hi, I need a pair of gorilla gloves.”

DUDE: “Oh, sh*t. We are all sold out of gorilla gloves.”

LADY: “Yeah. We won’t have gorilla in until June or July at the earliest.”

ME: “I didn’t realize there was a run on gorilla costumes.”

DUDE: “Yeah, sorry. We have ape and chimpanzee gloves though.”

LADY: “Nope. We are all out of chimpanzee, too.”

DUDE: “Sh*t…Well, the ape glove are pretty good. They have white flesh instead of black–”

LADY: “We have werewolf gloves. Those are really good! I own a pair. They are very comfortable and the pads on the fingers…you can do anything with those gloves.”

ME: “Um, can I see the ape gloves?”

While not writing books Patrick also likes to take pictures.

His first photography series, aptly titled Alleys of Louisville, was recently published by Oxford American Magazine.

Check it out!