Curious George Book & CD

Curious George (Three stars) is a good book for beginner readers. It is a fun story for children about a monkey's adventure with his human owner. Teachers could have this book for their student's downtime.

The original-mine says 1941 renewed 1969. All time favs. this little monkey is so funny when he has a smoke on the bed. of course out dated in the sense it calls the cop fat. all in all a sweet story. You are so glad he makes it to the zoo before anyone really gets hurt..LOL

I was familiar with the character, of course, but I don't recall ever reading the first book.

And now I think I see why. It is a little stuck in the past, isn't it? We don't glorify poaching anymore, nor smoking, nor old-fashioned zoos. (And that just messes with the series canon, that, since George

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doesn't live in the zoo in any of the other books.)

Moreover, my nieces don't find this book interesting, but they do find more recent Curious George stories interesting.

Please read this before you buy to make sure it's right for your kids.

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This is a children's classic but I find it a little disturbing. There's an undercurrent of misery in the text that doesn't jibe with the smiling monkey in the pictures.

This is my favorite Curious George story.

This book is about a little monkey who is curious by nature. his curious ways get this fella into trouble while his owner has to bail him out. It is a cute book and one that children will love to read!

The first edition of Curious George in DJ is one of the great rarities of 20th century children's literature.

Curious George is, of course, a mischievous little monkey who gets taken from his home in Africa and brought to live in the big city by the man in the yellow hat. Along the way he gets in many misadventures including falling off a big boat, accidentally calling the fire department and causing them

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trouble, getting put in jail, getting blown away with a handful of balloons, and finally getting put in the zoo.

This is long for a picture book, but the text is simple and would be a good introduction to indpendent reading for newer readers. I think the characterization of George is what has made these books so popular - he's sweet, naive, often misunderstands or takes things too literally, etc. I think kids identify with him. The illustrations are bright, old-fashioned, lovely. I'm pretty sure they were originally done with a limited color palette but have been "colorized" in subsequent reprints?

The story itself is kind of disturbing in retrospect: George is basically kidnapped/poached from Africa by the Man in the Yellow Hat, he's nonsensically "jailed" for calling in a false alarm to the fire department, and finally he ends up in the zoo - you know, trapped in a cage rather than running around free in Africa. This is very different from the Curious George most kids are probably used to seeing via the movies and the PBS show.

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Rey, H. A. (1993). Curious George. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (Original work published 1941).
Age: 2 to 5 years old

George is a good little monkey whose curiosity causes him to be captured from his native Africa by a man in a yellow hat who plans to take him to the zoo. On the big ship that takes

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them to the city, George’s curiosity almost costs him his life. In the city living with the man in the yellow, George’s curiosity keeps on getting him in trouble—it even causes him to go to jail. George’s life is once again in danger when he steals a bunch of balloons and to his surprise, the wind whisks him up and up. Scared, he holds on with all his might to the balloons until the wind dies out and George safely lands on top of a traffic light. The man in the yellow hat finds George and takes him to live safely and happily in the city zoo.

Curious George is an adventure story prompted by the endless curiosity of one little monkey. Curiosity can be dangerous, but it can also open the doors to new and exciting experiences, and George experiences both facets of it. The plot is a series of close calls with disaster that lead to a happy ending. George’s character is marked by one feature, his curiosity, and the man in the yellow hat’s main characteristic is his yellow hat, but the magic of the book is in George’s mischief—at every page, readers are left wondering if this is the time when George’s luck will run out, and they rejoice every time he gets away almost unscathed. Adult readers sharing this story with children may be uncomfortable with the idea of a little monkey taken away from his habitat to live in a zoo; children, however, see how a cute little monkey can cause so much trouble. Illustrations are bight and colorful and add a whimsical touch to the story.
Slobodkina, E. (1985). Caps for sale: a tale of a peddler, some monkeys, and their monkey business. New York: Harper & Row. (Original work published 1940).

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The original book about that trouble-causing monkey and his owner in the yellow hat. A classic for all ages.

Curious George was a monkey that a man in a yellow hat found in the jungle and brought back to put in the zoo. After George gets to the man's house he gets into all kinds of trouble and almost doesn't make it to the zoo at all. This is just a fun book for students to read, it could be used when

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talking about animals, but it is not a factual book.

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This is the story about when George and the man in the Yellow hat first meets. My son loved the book and could not get enough. This series is a good lesson about every action has an reaction.

This story is about a little pet monkey who is very curious and just wants to explore and ends up getting into some trouble. I love this book because the monkey reminds me of me and most other little kids who are very curious about things. this book would be a great read for a third or fourth grade

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reader.

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published in English in 1941, was written by Margret Rey and illustrated by her husband Hans (H.A.) Rey. They wrote an additional six Curious George titles published between 1947 and 1966. These are often called the ‘original adventures’, and have been reissued in a 70th anniversary edition.

A

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second (1984-1993) and third series (1998-present) followed, as well as numerous animated television films, feature length movies and the current PBS TV series.

What can one say about a classic that spawned an entire industry and yet left me feeling somewhat uncomfortable?

When the story was written, it had been little more than half a century since Henry Stanley found David Livingstone in ‘deepest, darkest’ Africa. Much of the continent was still colonized – chiefly by the British, but also by the French, Germans and Portuguese. Movies were still made in which white men were addressed as “bwana” or ‘big boss’.

So the explorer figure of the man in the yellow hat who captures George and takes him aboard ship against his will was a cultural fit. But it made me uneasy.

After George’s adventures in the city, he’s captured again and put into the zoo. “What a nice place for George to live!” I certainly have enjoyed visiting zoos – and still do, and I recognize the role that the world’s zoos have played in protecting some endangered species. Yet, I couldn’t help but think that George had a perfectly ‘nice place to live’ before the man in the yellow hat came along.

Granted, this is the first story, and subsequent adventures (especially those being written today) won’t include the capture, but just the antics of a curious monkey, with whom curious children can no doubt identify. And perhaps it’s not fair to judge yesterday’s stories with today’s sensibilities. Nonetheless, for this first story, beloved classic or not, I’m awarding only three and one-half stars.

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I'd have to agree with some of the other reviews - it's a pretty disturbing story. I'm sure a 3 or 4 year old wouldn't be able to see it, but I'm fairly certain a 6 year old would have a few questions about why the Man in the Yellow Hat stole George from he jungle and threw him in a zoo. Maybe if

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they hadn't ripped him from his home George wouldn't be acting out? I thought I remembered this story differently, but I guess not. 2 stars because the illustrations were good and...well... it's kind of a classic.

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My children loved the Curious George books. I would do almost anything not to read them. Hated, hated, hated them. We made bargains.

I decided to read this book because of it being a "Curious George" book, but I really was not a fan of it. I think that children will get the wrong message in that George did all these mischievous things and got away with them, so they can too. This is not a book I would bring into the classroom.

I really like this book. The biggest thing I like is how relatable George is to children. He is just as curious as they would be about different things. For example, George's thought process when he gets to put on the yellow hat on the first time is "The hat had been on the man's head. George

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thought it would be nice to have it on his own head. He picked it up and put it on." This sounds exactly like something a child would think and do. They would be curious about something they didn't know anything about and mimic what they saw was done with it. The illustrations are also extremely colorful and engaging. All the characters have their own personalities, especially George. He is a tiny monkey with an expressive face, to which children will be drawn. The big idea of this story is that even when you can't seem to do anything right, things will work out for you in the end. Even thought George can't seem to follow the rules, the story ends with him being happy at the zoo. Another big idea is that curiosity is how you learn what is safe and not safe to do, which George illustrates when he falls off the boat attempting to fly like the birds, because "after that George was more careful to be a good monkey".

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I read this book when I was a child. I read it again a few days ago, and it is vastly different then I remember. First, the man in the yellow hat takes George away from his home in the jungle and into the big city. Because George is curious he gets himself into all sorts of trouble. In the end he

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is taken to live in the zoo and is "happy" in his new home. I am not sure I would want to share this book with my students. Most children know Curious George as a lovable monkey who lives with the man in the yellow hat. This is the way the books were written in the series later on. It might be a good disvussion book for older grades on what kind of response would this book bring had it been written in current times.

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This is the original Curious George that tells the story of how he came to be with the man in the yellow hat. The man in the yellow hat brought George home from Africa and along the way, George gets into his typical curious trouble. This book would be a great one for motivating kids to read because

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most kids know about Curious George and have either watched him on TV or read about his adventures in books. However, this one is the story of how Curious George came about, and would be very enticing to students who are already interested in Curious George.

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As a child this was one of my favorite books. George's curiosity is responsible for his capture in Africa, and his trouble while staying with the man in the yellow hat. And really, the story is fun. The moral of the danger of curiosity comes through loud and clear. The illustrations are simple and

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charming. While they are dated the simple illustrations they have come to be recognizable around the world and have lasted over 70 years since they were first introduced in the 1939 book “Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys.” It remains a favorite book of mine and little children all over the world.

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Reread this with so much joy with a classroom of 3 and 4 year olds. They were glued! Still crazy for Curious George after all these years....

Summary: A story about a monkey named George who was curious about everything. This curiosity would get George in trouble all the time. He was curious about birds flying, making phone calls, flying high while holding balloons.

Personal Reaction: I enjoyed it, still made me giggle, I read this book

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as a little boy, many years ago.

Classroom Extension:
1. Teach that Curiosity can be good and bad, just have to learn the limits of how far you can go.

2. can be used to get the kids excited about a subject which will increase learning if children are excited about it.

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I would like the 'man with the yellow hat' to adopt me too. He is so patient. I tell the kids that they are monkey's just like George! M: "Very good, very adventurous and curious." Z: "I like the jungle room."