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"Ford renders bonobo facial expressions with remarkable psychological acuity; Lulu’s wide-eyed dismay upon arriving at the sanctuary, her uncertain glances at the wild bonobos, and her reassuring smile when, later, she comforts a newcomer all convey complex emotional states. Schrefer’s matter-of-fact prose establishes normalcy before gently dismantling it, respecting young readers’ capacity to grasp cultural displacement. The tale’s honesty about Lulu’s struggle rings true.

A moving narrative about the complexity of belonging in two worlds."

- Kirkus Reviews

"Colored pencil and ink illustrations by Ford (I Love Your Face!) give a light anthropomorphized touch to images of Lulu moving from one home to another; the drawings portray wild, gregarious bonobo energy and tender, human-like gestures. Through Lulu’s journey, readers see how easy it is to both draw and blur lines of connection."

- Publishers Weekly

Lulu and the Others

Award-winning author and wildlife expert Eliot Schrefer makes his picture book debut with a sweet, poignant story about family and belonging, inspired by the true story of a bonobo raised by a human family and later returned to the wild, with illustrations from New York Times bestselling artist AG Ford.

Lulu is like many kids you know. She lives in a house with her mom, dad, and sister. She likes soda, hopscotch, and comic books.

But there is one way Lulu is different: she’s a bonobo.

Being the only bonobo in a human world can be lonesome. And so Lulu and her family take a long boat ride to a jungle Lulu has never seen before.

Now, she’s surrounded by creatures with faces that look like hers and who make sounds like she does. But Lulu can’t possibly be like these apes…can she?

Out February 10, 2026

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