Annabel the Actress, Starring in "Gorilla My Dreams"

Annabel the Actress #1

by Ellen Conford, Renee W. Andriani (Illustrator)

In the continuing adventures of the young aspiring actress, Annabel takes her first job acting--as a gorilla for a little kid's birthday party--and she makes the most of her big break.

Genres: Childrens

64 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

Ellen Conford was an author for children and young adults. Among her writings are the Annabel the Actress and Jenny Archer series. Her books have won the Best Book of the Year Citation, Best Book of the International Interest Citation, Best Book of the Year for Children, Parents' Choice Award, and more.

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annabel has a strong sense of self worth/confidence. And she stays positive throughout even though things don't go how she wants them too.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you love acting then this is the book for you.

[Muse Here · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an ideal book for anyone with kids, particularly daughters. The main character is determined to be an actress. She spends time every day practicing different 'acting'. We see her dedication in being "angry", she explains how she thinks about something that makes her angry and uses that experience to feel angry.

Each problem she faces head on, thinks it through and comes up with a very clever solution. She never gives up or has a temper tantrum or looks elsewhere for someone else to fix her troubles. She does it all herself.

This is the kind of heroine I would like my daughters idolize and learn from. What a fabulous example! I really enjoyed how she thoroughly examined each obstacle as she approached.

She has her own ad in the paper for her acting services and when she gets a job, she practices for the part very seriously all week long.
I also love how confident she was!

One of my favorite parts was when her "life long enemy" steals the mask she is borrowing, she still is the best gorilla she can be, she earns the money she was promised for her acting job and then she figures out a genius way (very plausible imho) to 'best' her enemy and get it back. But she doesn't just come up with the solution, she actually examines the problem (he took the mask and I have to get it back) and thinks about it carefully (I'm not faster than him, so I can't chase him; I'm not stronger than him, so I can't just take it; I'll have to use my brain) which she does.

There are very few books that I have found that have such a clever female that is also relate-able to by young children.

This is a brilliant book! My girls (7 and 9) really enjoyed it and so did I. It was fun to read together; a perfect bedtime story as it did have some exciting parts, but nothing that would "wake them up and get them excited" imo. And not at all boring.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun story about a determined and enterprising young girl who follows her dreams and is not afraid to start small. With the help and encouragement of her family and friends, she pursues her dream of acting and takes a small part for pay. The story is entertaining and I love that it features a strong, independent female who finds a creative way to deal with a bully. The illustrations are quite hilarious and complement the story nicely.

This is the first book we've read in the Annabel the Actress series by Ellen Conford. We really enjoyed reading it together and we will certainly look for more of the books in this series at our local library.

[Ubalstecha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annabel is desperate to be an actress. Knowing she has to practice, she places an ad in the paper looking for any role. She is offered the role of a gorilla at a boys birthday party. Thus begins her quest for a costume, researching the role, traveling to the party and living up to expectations.

Cute, with a good amount of humour, Annabel is a spunky heroine for the beginning reader set. The scenes of her practicing the roll are quite amusing. The only thing that would improve this work would be for the illustrations to be updated as they are starting to feel a little dated. (The book was published in 1999).

Cute.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annabel is determined to be an actress and put in all the unglamorous work to get there. She knows she has to start somewhere, so when she's recruited to play a gorilla as a younger boy's birthday party entertainment, Annabel gives it her all. A short, quick chapter book good for transitional readers.

[Nonny Garcia]

I really want to read this book and I have to do a book report and is do January 29,2015 and there is 64 pages and I am at 43 I have 11 more pages to read and I have to draw a picture of every page and at the back of the book I have to get a picture of me and put it on the back and write about how old am I and what school do I go to and what grade am I in and facts about my family

[Major · Rating 2 out of 5]

Annable wants to be an actress. She is very excited to get her first job as a gorilla for a birthday party. However, things don't go the way that she planned it. She has to improvise in order to save the day.

[Abena Asare]

I want to read the books