Customer Reviews

The New Adventures of Curious George

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My 21-month old son loves the book, but I'm thoroughly sick of it already even though I've previously enjoyed the Curious George books. These stories are barely different from some previous "George" books I've read - for instance, Curious George and the Puppies is very, very similar in story line to Curious George and the Bunny - which is itself a rehash of a scene in Curious George Flies a Kite. I agree that the illustrations are great, and I realize that little kids like to know what to expect from a George book, but at least the adventures should sound adventurous!

every story in this book has been made with the same storyline. The original fun and creativity is gone.

My opinion - if you want good original George, buy the original, this is rehash which can be great for the very young, but my daughter and I have quickly gotten bored with this

I simply cannot understand why people are giving this book a hard time. Yes it is true that the stories & pictures contained in this wonderful collection were not actually written and drawn by the Reys, but who really cares? This book stays true to the Curious George tradition. In fact, if it wasn't stated in the book, you might otherwise never have noticed. The stories are humorous, fun, exciting, suspenseful and always have a happy ending. The adventures George gets into in this series are more applicable to kids today. Although it is fun to see George get sent into space, a child simply can't relate to that. However, I don't think there is one of us who can't empathize with the excitement of going to a movie or the fun or playing with puppies. The bottom line is that you could nitpick the details of it, but if you don't like this fabulous collection, then you don't deserve to call yourself a true Curious George fan.

I have to respectfully disagree with the preceding reviews. This book is great! My 3 year can't get enough. The art is outstanding and the stories are fun. One of the simple facts of parenthood is that you will end up reading the same books hundreds of times. They might as well be Curious George books.

Milking a cash cow is an old story in the publishing industry, but this collection of "new" Curious George stories represents a new low. One gets the distinct impression from the book that the stories, at least, are by the original authors (although that is never actually stated). But reading the stories themselves reveals a formulaic approach to the material that is the worst sort of homage. Every episode starts the same way, and ends the same way. The man with the Yellow Hat takes George somewhere interesting, leaves him alone for a moment, George gets in trouble, and things work out for the best. This is precisely the problem with someone other than the original author trying to resurrect a dead character for profit - it becomes a mechanical rather than creative effort. It is too bad that the work of the obviously talented illustration team from Vipah Interactive (sounds like the pix were done by computer, though this is not the case) weren't put to better use. Shame on you, Houghton Mifflin!

We bought our daughter the Complete Adventures of Curious George and thoroughly enjoyed the long meandering story lines. In the New Adventures, the stories are more focused, brief, and formulaic. My daughter still enjoys the stories, but I get bored.

If I wanted great literature, I would have ordered a Tolstoy, or maybe an Updike. My 3 year old daughter, on the other hand, doesn't need to know about war (or peace, for that matter) and she is very impressed with George.

We watch the PBS show everyday, and you'll find the illustrations in this book are simpler than the show (some might say they're "homely"), but it is clearly George, and I personally think the unpretentiousness is one of the appealing things about the original (and original-"inspired") drawings.

The colors are crisp, and the text is nicely laid out. The pages are strong and thick, and my daughter loves to leaf through the book herself in addition to having us read to her. The binding quality seems good, so I think the book will last for years, even with our heavy use.

Did I mention this volume is quite inexpensive? This and the complementary volume (the red one) are both significantly cheaper than buying the stories separately. At first I thought I would prefer to have separate stories, but now that we've used both volumes so much, I appreciate having them together, so I can say "ok we'll read two more and then it's bedtime, pick which ones from the table of contents!", etc. Note that the table of contents includes a little picture relevant to each story. It's a small point, but it means she can easily know which story she wants at a glance, without being able to read. Also when we go on trips, two books (instead of several) are easier to keep track of.

So far our daughter's favorite is "Curious George and the Puppies". She loves animals, and the suspense about finding the missing puppy is exactly at the right level for a toddler or child. I have no idea exactly what age range the books are aimed at, but as I say, she is 3 and loves them, and I bet she will still be reading them herself at 8 or 10. The idea of Curious George is timeless: he is ageless (although he behaves like a -- very clever -- child), and since he is a monkey it does not strike people as odd that he can wander around in factories, big cities, or the countryside by himself with only the admonition to "be a good little monkey". Curious George is an absolutely brilliant kid's hero in my opinion.

Although you can click a link to get the table of contents on Amazon, here are the 8 stories included, for easy reference:

1. Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory

2. Curious George and the Puppies

3. Curious George makes Pancakes

4. Curious George Feeds the Animals

5. Curious George Goes to a Movie

6. Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon

7. Curious George in the Snow

8. Curious George's Dream

This is definately a book a child will treasure, you really cant go wrong with it.

I bought this book for my 3 year old, but my six year old still loves it too. A nice variety of cute, but not too long stories. I give it as a birthday gift at 4 year old birthday parties and always get good feedback.

Is a nice book to read to your toddler (I have a 5 year old). She loves it. The illustrations are beautiful and they help her develop her inference skills.