"Lights Out! Sweet Dreams!:" Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed by Eileen Christelow

"IT'S BEDTIME FOR MONKEYS! NOW TURN OUT THE LIGHT." "OH, MAMA! OH, PLEASE! ONE MORE STORY TONIGHT!" BUT MAMA'S TOO TIRED. SHE'S READ MORE THAN FOUR. "LIGHTS OUT! SWEET DREAMS!" SHE CLOSES THE DOOR.

But there are lots of irresistible books left behind:

"IF MAMA WON'T READ IT, THEN MAYBE WE COULD!"

Five little monkeys take turns reading Where's That Puppy? First they weep and then they celebrate when the little lost puppy is found, bringing a grouchy Mama back to the door with a curt reminder: "What was it I said? No more reading in bed." But a scary ghost story beckons, and the monkeys can't resist making ghostly sounds to go along with the story, until something REALLY SCARY appears. It's MAMA, wearing bathrobe and slippers and a weary frown, and giving them a stronger still warning. But as the door closes firmly behind her retreating figure, one little monkey whispers:

"THAT STORY WAS SO CREEPY, I'LL NEVER BE SLEEPY."

And she has the perfect antidote to a ghost tale--a joke book. Soon the five little monkeys are trying vainly to stifle their snickers at the silliness until their giggles become a roar:

AND THEN CAN YOU GUESS WHO FLINGS OPEN THEIR DOOR?

Mama means business this time and to prove it she confiscates all their books and stomps out the door. But now the five little monkeys are too sleepy to protest and soon they are about to drift into dreamland at last when the sounds of weeping and then giggling from down the hall rouse them again. Of course, we can all guess who's reading in bed this time, and the five little monkeys finally get their turn to deliver that now famous line to Mama.

"OH, MAMA, WHAT WAS IT YOU SAID? LIGHTS OUT! SWEET DREAMS! NO MORE READING IN BED!"

Eileen Christelow's storytime simian siblings are at the top of their game in this eighth installment in her best-selling Five Little Monkeys series, the forthcoming Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed (Clarion, 2011), a must-have bedtime story starring those irrepressible little monkeys. Christelow's trademark blackline and water-colored illustrations are exuberant, each of the five with a different expression and body language which provide lots of visual fun to fit with her fine versification. A not-to-be-missed story that puts in a plug for independent reading-- with even Mama unable to resist a good nighty-night tale and a promise that "tomorrow...we'll read more." To open and close the fun, Christelow's front endpapers feature the little monkeys reading everywhere--from the potty to the backyard swing--while her closing endpapers set the pace for snooze time with five snoring little ones surrounded by stars. A perfectly realized picture book! Kirkus Reviews also gives this one a thumbs-up: "Christelow's silly simians are just as bouncy as they ever were.... Reading promotion at its best, with a little bit of bad behavior to spice things up!"

Hoisting High! Curious George's Crane by Carol Chu

ONE DAY GEORGE LOOKS OUT THE WINDOW AND SEES...
A BRIGHT SHINY CRANE

AS HIGH AS A TREE.

Of course, George is curious. "Well, who wouldn't be?" as creator H. A. Rey famously said.

And this day George is up for an uplifting experience! He zooms downstairs and soon is standing in front of an unusual, big yellow truck, with a friendly looking man in a hard hat at the controls. And there's a long lift arm which can hoist heavy loads way up high. Big logs are being lifted as if they were feathers and put in place to make... WHAT?

Curious George climbs into the cab and suddenly he realizes what the crane is constructing. Something he can't wait to slide down!

In Carol Chu's Curious George's Crane (mini movers shaped board books) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), not only does this "toy and movable book" show how playground equipment is assembled from the ground up, it also provides its lucky owner with a chance to try his or her hand at the project.

The lift arm folds out, complete with hook, and among the final pages of this inventive little shape book are press-out versions of the construction materials so that the book's owner can re-enact the whole process. Press-out stands for the completed job enable the young builder to prepare his or her own construction site piece by piece. Illustrations by Alessandro Prezini provide spot-on likenesses of H.A. Rey's ever-popular picture book hero, Curious George.

Other books in this series include Curious George's Train (mini movers shaped board books), Curious George's Dump Truck (mini movers shaped board books), and Curious George's Fire Truck (mini movers shaped board books).

Why Did the Monkey Cross the Inlet? Monkey Goes Bananas by C. P. Bloom

Monkey has a problem. He's on one side of the ocean inlet and a tree with a huge bunch of ripe bananas is on the other side. How to get across THE WATER?

He sticks one toe in. Hmmm! Not too bad! He start wading across. Not too deep.

But then he meets something no one wants to meet in the sea.

THE SHARK!

Zip! Monkey is back on the bank. What to do?

He tries stilt walking across the inlet. He laughs at the shark until...

... his stilts go down in a hole and he drops down into shark-bite territory.

Zip!  Back to where he started. Monkey gets his fishing gear and baits the enormous hook for a big catch.

CHOMP!

Suddenly Monkey sees that hauling in The Shark is not a good plan. A Land Shark is not what he needs. But he can't give up until he gets his BANANA.

Back to the drawing board. Monkey decides it's time to put some physics on his side. He fashions a lasso and twirls it across the inlet, snagging the whole banana tree! He wraps his end of the rope around another tree, pulley-style, and hauls until the banana tree bends just within his reach.

But just as Monkey snags his Banana, WHAM! The tree snaps back and leaves Monkey and Banana dangling just above Shark's jaws.

Now...who's going to enjoy a snack today?

C. P. Bloom's tidy tale, The Monkey Goes Bananas (Abrams Books, 2014) is a silly-giggle-getting, almost-wordless story. Peter Raymundo's high-res illustrations turn this slight  text into a funny but epic account of survival of the, well, luckiest!  Using comic-strip frames and skillful cartooning, Raymundo plays with perspective and page-turn drama to make this one perfect for preschool and beginning reader fare. Slapstick and sight gags are put to good use here for both story circle time and read-alone time. "Kids will jump right into this rip-roaring flip book—paced tale," says School Library Journal.

Everyone's Irish! Happy St. Patrick's Day, Curious George by Cynthia Platt

TOP O' THE MORNING, GEORGE!
IT'S TIME TO ROMP AND PLAY
WITH A PARTY, DANCING, AND PARADE
EVERYONE'S IRISH TODAY!

LITTLE MONKEY TOP HAT,
FANCY GREEN PLAID VEST.
GEORGE PICKS OUT HIS FINEST
SO THAT HE'LL LOOK HIS BEST.

It's the day for the "wearin' o' the green," and George is all decked out properly for St. Paddy's Day. But--look! The Man with the Yellow Hat is wearing his usual all-yellow outfit! What a party pooper. And not even green eggs and ham for breakfast!

Oh, well.  George heads out to the park for the festivities.  He joins some kids at the craft table and cuts out some shamrocks.  Then he moves on to the hunt for the leprechaun's golden coins--the chocolate kind. George bags a bagful and then catches the strain of some lively fiddle and pipes playing.  Some girls in fancy green dresses and bouncy curls are dancing, and George can't resist trying Irish dancing!

GEORGE JUMPS IN
WITH A GRIN.
MONKEY TOES
A-TAPPING.

George spots something special as he taps in the green grass--a four-leafed clover.  It must be the luck of the Irish, for sure.

Then George smells something good and moves on to a table piled high with Irish dishes and bright green punch.  George reaches up and up and oops! The punch bowl totters, tips, and falls--kersplash, just as the the Man with the Yellow Hat comes up to join George.

OH, NO! OH, MY! WHAT HAS HE DONE?
GEORGE JUMPS UP TO CLEAN.
HE SMILES AT HIS GOOD FRIEND AND SEES
AT LAST HE'S WEARING GREEN!

Begorra! With his total outfit splashed with emerald-hued punch, the Man With the Yellow Hat is now wearing green just in time to join the St. Patrick's Day Parade with George, in Happy St. Patrick's Day, Curious George tabbed board book (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014). In this latest holiday adventure, George takes preschoolers along on a tour of St. Patrick's Day-themed fun. With jolly quatrains by Cynthia Platt and plenty of green in the illustrations by Mary O'Keefe Young, H.A. Rey's classic character shows youngsters how to celebrate all the Irish-themed festivities (conveniently tabbed) of St. Patrick's Day.

For a truly green storytime, pair this one with Natasha Wing's The Night Before St. Patrick's Day (see my review here).

Switcheroo: Five Little Monkeys Trick-Or-Treat by Eileen Christelow

THE FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS DRESS UP FOR HALLOWEEN.

"HURRY" SAYS MAMA. "YOUR FAVORITE BABY SITTER IS HERE TO TAKE YOU TRICK-OR-TREATING."

"GHOST, PRINCESS, GOBLIN, ALIEN, BANANA," MAMA REMINDS LULU. "DON'T LOSE THE RASCALS!"

"DON'T WORRY!" SAYS LULU.

Lulu leads her charges down the street, where Alien meets a friend dressed as a fluffy blue bunny. The two admire each other's costumes so much that they decide to trade outfits on the spot.

"EVERYONE WILL BE SO CONFUSED!" THEY WHISPER.

The new alien joins the group. Lulu is too busy to notice, but the other four monkeys do, and they suddenly feel the urge to trade costumes with their friends. One by one, Banana, Princess, Ghost, and Goblin switch outfits, and the non-monkeys join the bogus alien in Lulu's entourage, while the real little monkeys, disguised as Bunny, Pumpkin, Grapes, Robot, and TV, trail at a discreet distance down the street, giggling at their joke.

"THIS IS THE BEST HALLOWEEN TRICK!" SAYS THE GOBLIN.

LUCY DOESN'T SEEM TO NOTICE.

While the mischievous monkeys chortle at their joke, Lulu takes an inventory of her charges. Suddenly she changes course.

"WE HAVE TO GET HOME FOR THE BIG HALLOWEEN TREAT!" SHE CALLS.

As the impostor trick-or-treaters gleefully hurry after Lulu hoping for the big treat, the five little monkeys are suddenly worried. What big treat? Their joke seems to have backfired.

At first Mama is a bit surprised to see the returned trick-or-treaters. Somehow Alien, Banana, Ghost, Goblin, and Princess seem rather different from the way they looked when they left. A peek at the five faces peering anxiously through the window and a nod and wink from Lulu tell Mama the whole story.

Meanwhile the desperate real monkeys ring the bell and cry,

"TRICK OR TREAT, MAMA!"

"THERE MUST BE SOME MISTAKE," SHE SAYS.

Mama points out that her little Alien, Banana, Ghost, Goblin, and Princess are already present and accounted for, and pretends to close the door on the now sad little tricksters.

Now what do they do?

Eileen Christelow's beloved five little monkeys are back in a perfect trick-the-tricksters treat of a tale, Five Little Monkeys Trick-or-Treat (A Five Little Monkeys Story) (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2013), as Mama and Lulu turn the tables on the would-be tricksters. There's a happy conclusion and a treat from Lulu, who has a final trick up her sleeve, in the form of eyeball cookies and worm juice for all, including the impostors. As a final treat Christelow even appends the recipes for these tricky treats on the final endpapers! A great night out with some favorite book friends, right in time for a pre-Halloween treat.

Christelow's Five Little Monkeys stories are an excellent extended series, one which has maintained continuity and consistent quality from the initial title, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, right through to this fun-as-a-barrel-of-monkeys title, forthcoming for the upcoming scary season.

"Another winner in the further adventures of the familiar five," says School Library Journal.

Sock It to Me: Sock Monkeys for the Santa Season

Sock monkeys and I go way back. One of my sons got one (christened Monk-Monk) from his grandmother, and it traveled with him all the way to the rafters of the place where he lived in graduate school. In fact, it's still with him, worn and well traveled.

So naturally, when my grandchildren started to come along, I started to make and give them myself--finally making six, one for each child and a replacement for one that was lost. They were all different, since I had plenty of time to forget all the clever quality control tricks between births, and they were all cute in a definitely, er, quirky way. Ugly or charming, though, little kids love these things, probably because with long limbs and a long tail, they are easy to haul around.

If you are a crafter (or just determined, like me!) you can make your own, even ordering all the materials as an inexpensive kit, Peejay the Sock Monkey Kit, which includes the traditional red-heel socks, cotton floss and embroidery needle, instructions, adoption papers(!) and buttons, felt and pom-pom for trim. (If you are making the sock monkey for a child under three years, I'd advise NOT trimming with the buttons or pom-pom; I embroidered the eyes along with the smile.) I also found that craft stores sell cute little knitted sweaters which fit the monk-monks perfectly.

If you lack the time or sewing machine to make your own, there are several ready-made authentic sock monkeys available. If you want a celebrity monk-monk, there's Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium Exclusive Gift Set Sock Monkey & Book, featuring the star and book of the movie, or the appealing Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium Sock Monkey & Red Wagon, which features the monkey in his own little red wagon. Or, if you are a purist, you can get an unembellished monkey, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium Sock Monkey, and pair it with noted author Harriet Ziefert's cute count-down book, 10 Little Sock Monkeys, shown above. However he comes, the sock monkey is a great toy which looks quaint and fetching in a stocking and can become a keepsake for generations to come.

And, for kids (and adults) too old for a sock monkey, there's that other monkey, the best-selling Slingshot Flying Monkey With Scream Sound, the stocking stuffer perfect for anyone except the pre-three spectre Scrooge. It's not going to become a keepsake, but let's just say that it'll probably last about as long as you want it to!

Monkeys Shine: Eileen Christelow's Five Little Monkeys

There are several versions of the old nursery song about the five little monkeys with the slow learning curve (who one by one disobey mom and jump on the bed and bump their heads), but by far the best of the bunch (no pun intended) is Eileen Christelow's version. Available as a hardback picture book (shown above), as a must-have board version, as Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (Board Book), and even in Spanish version, as Cinco Monitos Brincando en la Cama, this little book, with its lilting rhyming verse and illustrations which hilariously extend the text, is well on its way to being a must-have classic of early childhood. And if your vocal cords weary of singing the song in the car, there's an audio version, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (Audio CD) which will keep the miles bouncing by in the back seat!

But wait. There's MORE! Christelow has added sequels Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree, Five Little Monkeys with Nothing to Do, Five Little Monkeys Bake a Birthday Cake, and Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car. In the latter the five monkeys try to help Mama sell her old junker by creating a snazzy paint job, but when the car rolls into the swamp, one little monkey comes up with a clever trick to keep the crew from becoming crocodile crunchies.

Christelow's Five Little Monkeys series has already become must-have classics for early childhood. These little books, with their simple, rhythmic texts extended by hilarious detailed illustrations, provide many entertaining opportunities for learning rhyme, rhythm, predicting, and using your head sensibly in the adventures of daily life.