Customer Reviews

I Love You, Little Monkey

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

 

 

I purchased this book to read to my little granddaughter who is just 2 years old. Her mommy takes her to the zoo frequently and she enjoys all the animals, especially the monkeys. My little "Beans" loves the book and she will pull it from her bookshelf to read most every time she visits. We have snuggled and read the book so much that Beans tells the story to me through the beautiful illustrations! We look for monkeys in the trees of our backyard and at the zoo with her mommy, and Beans even has to kiss Little Monkey on the pages of the book! The book is so great that I purchased another copy for the children in the elementary school where my husband works.

My kids, ages 3-6, really love this book. The little monkey wants to play with his mother, but she is busy doing monkey-housework type things, and then resting, and keeps putting him off. In the meantime, he gets bored and into trouble, and eventually she loses patience with him. In the end though, she apologizes, and says she loves him always, and they play happily together. Both the story and pictures really engage my children, and I always reinforce after that I always love them, even if sometimes I seem 'grumpy' or sometimes they make 'mistakes'.

For me, the value of stories is partly about helping kids process different emotional experiences, and so I think the story of this one does that. Of course, if you never lose patience with your kids, maybe yours don't need help processing that one, lol:-)

As for the critical review here, I first off don't really agree that all the actions of the 'little monkey' in this book could be considered accidental. Some are and some aren't. Mostly he just seems bored, so again, I think this book offers a good opportunity for discussing how to deal with boredom, how to play alone, and how sometimes Mommy (or Daddy, or Grandma, etc.) need to do other things. It also offers the opportunity to discuss what is 'on purpose' and what is 'accidental'. In short, it is just a fantasy version of something that honestly occurs in many households every single day, and this offers a wonderful and fun way to air that out, and reinforce the message that love trumps all.

Adorable book!! My grandson just loves monkeys and didn't want to return this book when due at the library. Thankfully the Easter Bunny brought him his very own copy!! This story has a great message for kids that teaches them patience and understanding. When mommy monkey can't devote her attention to little monkey, he gets into trouble but the mommy monkey still loves him even though he sometimes misbehaves!! Cute illustrations too.

My three year old did not like this book because "him not do that on purpose, why him Mommy so mad?" In other words -- the little monkey accidentally causes havoc but his mother reacts as if he's done it on purpose. Up until the end the book does not make a distinction between an accident and an intentional act and the apology at the end of the book does not resolve this problem.