A young Junior Scientist is eager to give her presentation on the idea of normalcy, but Norman, her orangutan subject, proves less than cooperative. From eating pizza to sleeping with a stuffed toy aardvark, he just doesn't seem to fit the mold, when it comes to what is expected of a member of his species. The young scientist becomes more and more distressed, as her presentation tanks before her eyes, but eventually she learns that normalcy is a fluid concept... something her teacher intended for her to discover all along!

An entertaining meta-fictional picture-book, Normal Norman presents its central idea - that normalcy is a variable concept, depending upon who and what is involved - while also providing an entertaining tale. With the different voices and perspectives, and the back-and-forth exchanges between the girl and Norman, this would make an excellent read-aloud selection. The artwork by S. britt is colorful and engaging, capturing the humorous tone of the tale quite well. Recommended to anyone looking for more meta-fictional picture-books, in which the characters are aware of their roles in the book, and to those looking for children's stories about the idea of normalcy. ( )

Normal Norman is narrator by a young junior scientist. Her job is to clearly define the word normal and she chooses to use a "normal" gorilla named Norman to demonstrate the word normal. The reader and narrator quickly find out that Norman is not so normal after all. He acts in outrageous way and the narrator becomes frustrated with him. With each attempt of the narrator to prove that Norman is normal, Norman becomes if less so. By the end of the story it is decided by the narrator that normal is impossible to define. The central message of this book is that just because something is different or weird, it does not mean it is bad. Normal is relative and can not be defined because everyone acts differently. ( )

Throughout this book the narrator is trying to make this gorilla act "normal." When he eats pizza she says "that's not normal," and hands him a banana. Everything Norman does is not "normal" for a gorilla, and she keeps trying to make him normal. This book is a great book to show children that there is no such thing as "normal." Everyone's different. After trying to make Norman do everything normal, she says in the end "normal is impossible to define," because there is no such thing. This story explains to children that although different people eat, live, and act different, that's okay. ( )