Curious George in the Big City [Paperback]

H. A. Rey (Author), Margret Rey (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Curious George

While holiday shopping with the man with the yellow hat, George is accidentally swept away on a tour of the big city. Though he has fun seeing the tourist sites and all the sparkling decorations, what he enjoys most is being back together with his best friend.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

resumably seizing this anniversary opportunity, a pair of titles neither written nor illustrated by either of the Reys debut this fall: Margret & H.A. Rey's Curious George in the Big City and Margret & H.A. Rey's Curious George Goes to a Costume Party, both "illustrated in the style of H.A. Rey by Martha Weston." In the first offering, the little monkey gets lost in the big city. Alas, the cover illustration shows George clinging to the top of the Empire State Building, the New York City skyline behind him, with the World Trade Center towers rising majestically on the horizon. In the second, the fellow puzzles over what disguise to wear until he gets tangled in a sheet and winds up a ghost.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

resumably seizing this anniversary opportunity, a pair of titles neither written nor illustrated by either of the Reys debut this fall: Margret & H.A. Rey's Curious George in the Big City and Margret & H.A. Rey's Curious George Goes to a Costume Party, both "illustrated in the style of H.A. Rey by Martha Weston." In the first offering, the little monkey gets lost in the big city. Alas, the cover illustration shows George clinging to the top of the Empire State Building, the New York City skyline behind him, with the World Trade Center towers rising majestically on the horizon. In the second, the fellow puzzles over what disguise to wear until he gets tangled in a sheet and winds up a ghost.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

(Publishers Weekly ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: HMH Books; None edition (August 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618152407
• ISBN-13: 978-0618152407
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 8 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Popular Characters > Book Characters > Curious George
  • #56 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Where We Live > City Life
  • #59 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Animals > Apes & Monkeys > Fiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Curious George in the Big City, March 27, 2002

By 

M - See all my reviews

This review is from: Curious George in the Big City (Curious George 8x8) (Hardcover)

For an English 105 assignment
3-27-02

Curious George in the Big City is written in the common traditions of Margret and H.A. Rey and illustrated by Martha Weston. With the same features as the other Curious George titles, the comfort and enjoyment from the Curious George collection is involved as another adventure of George.
This book takes George and his friend the man with the yellow into New York City for Holiday shopping. As usual, George gets curious and finds himself separated from the man with the yellow hat. The book shows the landscape of New York City while George attempts to locate the man with the yellow hat.
This is a good book for family involvement among parents and kids. The child is involved in the soothing watercolor illustrations as the parent reads the story. Not only this, but the book uses simple sentence structure, words, and large print making it a fun book for beginning readers. Repetitive phrases help construct sentence structure and the use of verbs and nouns.
After either reading the book or listening, the child can learn the morals of life from Georges adventures. In this particular book, the lesson is learned that although the world is an interesting place, it is dangerous for young children to be alone in the city

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful illustrations - George is back!, May 22, 2002

By A Customer

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This review is from: Curious George in the Big City (Curious George 8x8) (Hardcover)

For those who don't already know, Curious George is the beloved monkey hero of H.A. Rey's children's books. Mr. Rey (along with help from his wife Margret) wrote and illustrated seven of the Curious George books. The "original seven" are available individually or all-in-one as part of "The Complete Adventures of Curious George, which should be the first "George" books one should read - they are still the best by far. But for true fans of Curious George, those seven books just aren't enough. Since H.A. Rey's passing away several years ago, attempts have been made to continue the series; some more successful than others - but none really matching the originals. Often those "new adventure" books have been formulaic and even poorly illustrated. Although I haven't read all of the "new" George books, one of the better ones is "Curious George's Dream" - that's one of the few I thought was worthy of the "originals", even though still not quite up to the H.A. Rey standard. So how does this latest effort, "Curious George in the Big City", compare?

Well as you could tell from the title I used here, the illustrations are fabulous. Martha Weston is not only a talented illustrator, but it's clear that she loves Curious George - and has made every effort to re-create the world that H.A. Rey brought to life so brilliantly. While it would be impossible for her to "be" H.A. Rey, these drawings are as close to the originals as anyone could ever hope. Yes, when I look at these drawings, I know that George is back! Almost every picture is incredibly well drawn; George is very cute and expressive (looking very much like the George in "CG Takes a Job" and later H.A. Rey books), and the background settings look as though they were drawn by H.A. himself (highest possible praise!). As far as the story goes (which was evidently NOT written by Ms. Weston and is uncredited), well it's formulaic and not nearly as creative as the stories of H.A. Rey's "original seven". At least the prose does follow the original H.A. Rey writing style (beginning each story with "This is George", etc.). The plot is definitely lacking in this one (compared with the originals), but the for serious CG fans, the drawings are worth the price of the book. In fact the cover illustration alone is worth the price: with George waving from the top of the Empire State building (a nod to "King Kong"?) with all of New York City including the WORLD TRADE TOWERS(!) in the background. It's hard not to get emotional seeing this cover, considering what happened the very month this book was first published (September 2001). But seeing the cover takes us to a happier, more peaceful time, that's something George has always been able to do for children and everyone else - to provide a calming effect and make us smile, even when we deal with so many difficult times. Yes - thanks to Martha Weston, our George is back, and the World Trade Towers are back too. For that we can be very thankful, and should buy this book! I hope that Ms. Weston will continue to illustrate George's further adventures; perhaps it would be even better if she wrote the stories as well. I'll bet even H.A. and Margret Rey would approve.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Series for Toddlers, February 10, 2008

By 

S. Collier - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Curious George in the Big City (Paperback)

My son is hooked on Curious George! This is a great series for toddlers as it is not only colorful and entertaining, but it actually teaches children basic concepts that are important building blocks for their education. Curious George in the Big City is one of our favorites, and allows us to "see the sights" right along with George.