5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A definite must have for schools and families., September 18, 2006
This review is from: The Chimpanzees Of Happytown (Hardcover)
As I have said previously, I am a sales rep for a major book publisher so I see a lot of books. I am certainly not afraid to tell you when my company sends out what I call a stinker. On the otherhand if we publish one I really like, I do not have a problem telling a school or library that they have to have a book.
This is a book that they should all have. It will appeal to students on a social level. It is wonderful teaching tool for teachers and parents alike. It does a wonderful job of being consistent on the rhyming text. Plus, it is just a real great story with really great pictures.
I ultimately judge a children's book by how often my child pulls the book out of the bookcase for me to read, and I can truly say that this is a book my two year old grabs almost every night.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Revolutionary monkeys, UNITE!, March 2, 2010
Echoing both Sombertown (from the stop motion classic
Santa Claus Is Comin to Town) as well as Fritz Lang's
Metropolis (1927), Drabsville is a gray town filled with sad inhabitants.
Into this cold, unhappy world walks a suspiciously happy, guitar-playing, vest-wearing hippie named Chutney. Actually, much of the story follows the plot from First Blood. Like Rambo, Chutney finds an enemy of authority (the mayor, to Rambo's Sheriff Teasle) and is unfairly thrown into prison. The *seed* that Chutney illegally brings into Drabsville could easily be seen as allegorical marijuana. "Destroy that nasty weed!"
Upon his release, and with the mayor temporarily out of town, Chutney incites the masses. Surely another influence at this point was Reagan's "Tear down this wall!" speech. We see formerly morose chimps painting their homes pink(!) and turning the palace into a fruity playground. Nor is it a stretch to see the kiddie rocket ship as a decommissioned weapon of mass destruction.
Chutney soon has the entire town's population dancing in the streets. Everyone is eating copious quantities of food, no one is working anymore. Drabsville (now renamed Happytown, in the classic revolutionary tradition) has gone from dystopia to utopia.
Having successfully turned the guards against their master, Chutney has *him* thrown into jail. With the mayor under lock and key, Chutney completes the coup d'état by assuming the mayoral post. He lets the former mayor out of jail but only to rub his nose in the new world order. Power to the people! Or at least to the chimpanzees.
This children's book packs some heavy messages into its colorful pages. For children conditioned to equating chimps with Curious George, they may not pick up on every facet of the story without parental assistance. How much you clue them in is up to you.
Scholastic paperback (February 2007)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My five year old loves this book!, June 8, 2008
This review is from: The Chimpanzees Of Happytown (Hardcover)
Very colorful pictures and beautifully written. The story is great. One of his favorite books and favorite authors.
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