Customer Reviews

Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The engaging pictures, suprise ending and repeated phrases in this book are the perfect way to get young children excited about subtraction! As a family of five monkeys goes on a picnic, they begin teasing an alligator. One by one, the monkeys disappear as the crocodile snaps its teeth. Children can count the monkeys that are left, after each time the alligator snaps and join in on the "Can't catch me" line that is repeated. It seems to be a predictable book, slowly loosing one monkey each time the alligator comes. However, the ending is suprising, and some children are able to find clues in the pictures that lead to finding out the suprise ending. This book is a great way for parents or teachers to introduce subtraction in a meaningful way! I highly recommend it. :)

What is with this trend of good kid's books being followed up by seemingly rapidly produced, poorly thought out sequels? As bad as sequel's are in American cinema, I think sequels in children's books are even worse.

We loved Five Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed. Cute pictures, the fun bouncy lines of the old kid's song, plus an opportunity to practice counting. And there is a lesson there. Kids: Don't jump on the bed. The book legitimizes the temptation, especially at the end when we see the mother taking her turn to jump on the bed. But the monkeys fall off one by one, Momma calls the doctors, and we see the monkeys lines up with there ice bags on their heads in their post-concussive stupors.

But we recently got "Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree." The helpful everyday lesson for kids in this book is don't taunt a crocodile. Okay, perhaps one could generalize this and interpret it as a useful aphorism for navigating hierarchies, but doesn't quite live up to the standard of the nice, concrete "no more monkeys jumping on the bed." But beyond the pointlessness of this book, it's terrifying. Although, in the end it is revealed that the monkeys do not get eaten by the crocodile (and on subsequent readings one spots them hiding in the tree, which is slightly clever), we spend 16 of the 28 pages thinking that some or all of the mischievous monkeys have been eaten by Mr. Crocodile. We see nice colorful illustrations of distressed relatives including the frantic mother sobbing inconsolably.

I know, I've been told I take these books too seriously. Maybe your children won't be as traumatized as I was, I don't know. Maybe it's a good way to teach math. And, I suppose, also an opportunity to teach about the cruel, pitiless realities of the animal kingdom. And to teach that the inherent nature of life is suffering. Ultimately these are important lessons for the toddlers. Just a bit heartless and harrowing for my taste.

My daughter (4) has almost worn out her copies of Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and Don't Wake Up Mama, so I bought her this and Five Little Monkeys with Nothing to Do. They are already bedtime favorites--they are bright and colorful, the rhymes are lots of fun and the stories are appealing to kids. She loves to sit and 'read' them to herself after we have read them to her and tucked her in for the night. She falls asleep with these books in her bed quite regularly. We love the Five Little Monkeys!

The book Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree is about five little monkeys that go on a picnic with their mother. While mother sits down to take a snooze the five little monkeys climb a tree to watch Mr. Crocodile. The five little sitting in a tree tease Mr. Crocodile can't catch me, then along comes Mr. Crocodile and SNAP!! Where did all the monkeys go?? The lesson in this story is not to tease crocodiles, you never know what can happen. The age level on this book I would say would be 4 to 8 years old. I woluld deffinetly recremend this book!!

Christelow adds another rhythmic, repetitive troublemaking adventure as the Five Little Monkeys climb into a tree and tease a crocodile, while Mama trustfully naps by the bank. This book, like some others in the series, can be either read aloud or sung, and there's a finger play for this one too (unfortunately hard to do while you hold a book, but oh well). In Christelow's version, instead of having the alligator actually eat the monkeys, they leap into the tree branches, to be revealed in the end for a happy picnic.

The funny characters are lively and lovable, and the predictable plot is a perfect choice for the preschooler who isn't quite ready for complicated stories. Of course, the behavior of the monkeys is dangerous, but even the smallest children ought to know better than to copy the monkeys' actions -- if anything, it serves as a rather funny cautionary tale.

My son is 18th months old and I am so pleased that he loves books! He seems to want to read books more then play with his other toys, though he does love his trucks and cars! I purchased this after the "jumping on the bed" one and he loved that one, but once his Daddy started reading this one with gusto, it is now his favorite book. He wants it read to him atleast 5-7 times a day! His favorite parts are the "SNAP!" and he even does a cute little arm motion when he knows that is coming! Based on his love of these two books, I purchased the rest of them and I have to say this one and the "jumping on the bed" are the best ones. The others rhyme but in a much more complicated way then these, they are too wordy and hard to follow, where as these are simple and fun to read. Definitely perfect for a very young toddler, I suspect the other ones that follow are for older boys and girls who read these two.

The Five Little Monkeys books are classics. My wife and I bought four of them and our boy loves them. This one is amusing because the five little monkeys decide to tease an crocodile. Don't worry, no harm befalls the little monkeys. It's good for a young child who is learning to read and the artwork is well done. I highly recommend this book.

I've been purchasing the "Five Little Monkeys" series for my grandchildren, and they love them! They especially like for me to read to them.

Most people know the one about monkeys jumping on the bed (also a book), but this rhyme is about as old. Surprised? Yeah, you're not alone :)

In the original, the monkeys are definitely eaten. In this version, not so much. (Also, this version cuts down some of my favorite lines from the original rhyme.) Because the monkeys aren't eaten, people who are worried about more sensitive children will probably be okay with this book :) Bright illustrations, bouncy classic rhyme, cute story. Gotta love it :)

My 3 year old loves me to read this to him. He asks me to read this almost everyday. This is a fun book to read.