Furious George Goes Bananas: A Primate Parody [Hardcover]

Michael Rex (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2010 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

George is an ape—not a monkey—and he is perfectly happy living his simple life in the jungle, until one day the man in the funny hat kidnaps him and brings him to the big city. Poor George! Forced to live in a cage at the zoo, then work hard manual labor and be mocked on stage—George has every reason to be upset. In fact, after all the maltreatment, he’s downright furious! So it’s a good thing George is one clever ape. Perhaps getting mad is not the only answer. Readers will laugh out loud when George comes up with a way to outsmart the man in the funny hat.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2—This "primate parody" from the creator of Goodnight Goon (2008) and The Runaway Mummy (2009, both Putnam) reworks Curious George as "a great big ape" who turns furious each time he gets a new job. While Rex's earlier titles drew laughs by adhering closely to the originals, this one takes a broader approach. It starts like the "Curious George" books when "a man in a funny hat" captures the creature in the jungle, but this man tries to get rich, selling the ape to a zoo, a construction foreman, and others. Each time the greedy guy pockets the cash, George gets angry and scares everyone away. When he's finally sold to a scientist for a trip to outer space, he traps his former owner and his money in the rocket ship, then hitches a ride on the outside of the craft and parachutes back home. Visual references to H. A. Rey's books, such as a bike crash and a balloon flight, are too subtle to have much impact, so the humor mostly depends on the repeated refrain of "George was furious!" and the accompanying spreads showing him wreaking havoc. Digitally colored cartoon pencil drawings capture the silliness but don't inject enough personality to raise the title beyond the one-joke concept. The clever title and the popularity of Rex's other books may draw interest, but without a more direct tie-in to the originals, this effort might make George's fans go bananas.—Steven Engelfried, Multnomah County Library, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Rex's latest parody of a classic will tickle the funny bone with its mix of slapstick and deadpan silliness. " --Kirkus

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (May 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399254331
• ISBN-13: 978-0399254338
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #530,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Illustrator Michael Rex is the author and illustrator of many books for children. He lives in the Bronx, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars He's mad as heck and he's not going to take it anymore, May 17, 2010

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Furious George Goes Bananas: A Primate Parody (Hardcover)

There is no feeling in the world quite like returning to a picture book you loved as a kid, only to discover how weird or disturbing that book was all along. A lot of adults experience this when they first have kids of their own and want to read them the books they used to love. The green elephant in The Story of Babar. The unapologetic nudist in In the Night Kitchen. And then there's Curious George. That happy little monkey has long since had his adventures adapted into movies, television shows, spin-offs, and even iPod apps. But when you go back and reread the original stories you may find yourself more than a little perturbed by what he experiences. Michael Rex sure was. In an interview on the Michael Spradling blog Rex said, "I love H.A. Rey, but the way that everyone treats George in those books is awful. That man yanks him from the jungle, ties a rope around his neck, makes him work for no money and then puts him in a 'documentary' they shoot on a stage! They even send him up in a test rocket and he blacks out. Not only that, but they keep calling him a monkey, and he's an ape! He has no tail! And what about George's parents? Don't they miss him? It's just getting me furious thinking about it..." The answer? The final picture book parody penned by Rex. What started with Goodnight Goon and Runaway Mummy (hat tips to Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny there) ends with Furious George Goes Bananas. He's big. He's purple. And he's not gonna take it anymore.

George is a happy gigantic ape, living his life in the jungle, when one day a man in a funny hat tricks him with a pile o' bananas. Before George knows it he's transported across the sea where the man immediately sells him to a zoo. Kept in a tiny cage away from his home, "GEORGE WAS FURIOUS! HE WENT BANANAS!" So the man in the funny hat sells George to a construction site. Things, as you might expect, go equally well. Then it's a Broadway show. Then it's outer space. Eventually George figures that if he's going to get back home, he's going to have to do it himself. And with some clever planning (and trickery involving the man in the funny hat's money pile) George finds a way to get back where he really belongs.

The original Curious George has been accused of a lot of things, most prominently amongst them a jovial look at imperialism. George is kidnapped from Africa and taken forcibly across the sea on a boat to a new land. For a while there, that was quite the hot button issue. The thing about Furious George, however, is that it just really gets down to the basic issues about why George has every right in the world to become furious. It doesn't even have to go after the worst slights done to the original George either (his vomiting up ocean water, his sniffing ether and conking out, etc.). As Rex (who, ironically, will be shelved right next to actual Curious George books in libraries due to his alphabetically correct last name) says on the book's bookflap, he "always wondered why little George put up with so much nonsense." Now we can wonder too.

The art is rather fascinating too. First off, there are the colors to consider. To avoid looking anything like the colors of Curious George this book goes in for a lot of purples and greens and oranges. There are also fun details to look at. For example, the man in the funny hat's clothing grows more and more prosperous every time he hires George out to somebody new. The hat generally stays the same (except for the red jewel that appears in it after he's wealthy) but the clothes go from jungle gear to a nice suit to spats to ermine. The book is also playing off of various Curious George themes (George in a zoo, George goes to space, etc.) but I am personally convinced that when George has to perform on a stage, his freak out owes more to King Kong than any H.A. Rey creation.

As for the story itself, it actually stands on its own just fine. I think any kid can sympathize with a creature taken out of its natural habitat that just wants to go home. I wouldn't be surprised if animal rights activists make Furious George their go-to book in years to come. I also loved that there was a running gag in the story of the man in the funny hat calling George a monkey only to be corrected over and over about the fact (he never remembers) that George is an ape.

I guess the natural question to ask is whether or not reading Furious George Goes Bananas will make kids think differently about H.A. Rey's classic predecessor. Maybe a little. But there's nothing wrong with children understanding how strange the original book was in terms of kidnapping a primate and then calling him the wrong animal over and over again. Furious George is also different enough from Rey's book to do what its predecessors (Goodnight Goon, Runaway Mummy) did. The people who don't like Curious George will find this delightful, and the die-hard Rey folks will get the joke and love it too. A book for everybody! Or at least, big purple gorilla fans.

Ages 4-8

4.0 out of 5 stars A good story without the parody..., May 22, 2011

By 

Deborah Sandford "Marian the Librarian" (Madison, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Furious George Goes Bananas: A Primate Parody (Hardcover)

While adults may pick up this book for its parody, children who know nothing about Curious George will find a vibrant and solid story that will hold their interest. George is a big blue and purple ape who is taken from his beautiful jungle by a man in a funny hat. He is sold to a zoo where "he went bananas." He then is sold to a worksite, a theatre, and finally to a scientist who prepares to send George into space.George grabs the now wealthy man-in-the-funny-hat and stuffs him and his money into the rocket, which blasts off with George on top, who then parachutes down to his purple mommy and blue daddy in the jungle. Rex offsets George's coloring with oranges and yellows when George is furious. There is much to look at and think about in this stand-alone book which is suitable for storytime or reading alone.