Curious George (Sandpiper Books)

Rating:
Summary: One of my family's favorites!
Review: Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it merely inconveniences the monkey. George always finds something intriguing to do, or look at or pick up, and it always leads to trouble. Luckily for him, people have a soft spot for curious little monkeys, so he never gets in too much trouble, at least not for very long.

In the first book, George's inquiring mind is responsible for his capture in Africa, and his trouble while staying with the man in the yellow hat. George watches the man pick up the phone, dial a few numbers, and talk to someone on the other end. Naturally, as soon as the man leaves George alone (big mistake), George decides to go dialing on his own. He calls the fire department, and they send over an engine and a squad of firefighters. They are none too pleased to discover it's a false alarm, and drag George off to jail. He escapes and has a few more adventures before the man with the yellow hat catches up with him. Then it's off to the zoo for George, until the next book anyway.

I'm convinced my three-year-old kid with the yellow hair is George's soulmate. He's dialed the fire department , too (although he had the benefit of speed dial), and we can't turn our back on him for a second or he gets into all kinds of trouble. No wonder George is one of his favorites!

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Summary: As a Child I Liked This Book!
Review: Curious George by H.A. Rey, what Can I say? I absolutely loved this book as a child and the rest of the books in this series. This is the first book and it's a good one and I thought that little monkey George was so cute and the way he was always getting into mischief was so funny and I highly recommend this and all of the Curious George books.

Rating:
Summary: great, but not for my child!
Review: H.A. Ray's first book, Curious George receives a bedazzling 9/10 stars. The storyline or plot was one that I would have expected from an accomplished author such as John Grisham, or Clancy. H.A. Ray's illustrations are part of what makes this book so great. He definitely makes George (the monkey) look both real and curious at the same time. This funny book is recommended for any child between the ages of five and nine. Since I am saying such wondrous things about this book, you may be wondering, why it received 9 stars. Well the answer is that it has a page in the book which may put bad ideas into the minds of children. There is a page, where George smokes a pipe. But other than that, it was a great book.

This book is about a curious monkey, stolen from Africa by a man in a big yellow hat. The man calls him "George". George was filled with curiosity. Immediately, he expresses his curiosity by thinking he can fly, and jumping off a boat. Later, he sees a man dialing numbers on a phone, George must try it. So when he dials, he dials the number 911 and accidentally calls the Fire Department. And as we all thought that that was enough, the author puts a dazzling twist in there, and he puts George in jail. When finally George escapes, he finds a man selling balloons, he must have one. So he grabs a few, and up he goes with the balloons. See, now that was only the part about curiosity, imagine how funny the whole book would be!

H.A. Ray's style in making this book was kind of cartoon-like. His illustrations greatly resemble that in a newspaper. His choice of words greatly resembles that in a newspaper cartoon. The comedy in this book greatly resembles that in a newspaper cartoon. But, even a cartoonist can put a moral into a story. The moral in this particular story was to be curious, but not too curious. Because after all, Curiosity killed the cat.


Rating:
Summary: Made me physically ill to read this book.
Review: How anyone could like this book is really beyond me. This book should stay a relic of the past. My 4 year old picked this book out at the library and I read it to her. I really didn't remember the story. I was sick. Little George is kidnapped just because some man took a fancy to him, put in a bag and tied up and taken half way around the world to be imprisoned in a zoo?! How horrible. How can you explain to a little child about being tied up in a sack, first of all? Also, he goes to JAIL for making mistake by summoning the fire dept in error? This is also terrifying. Oh yes, he smokes too, but that seems to be the least of all of the horrors. Just because it's old doesn't mean its good.

Rating:
Summary: great choice
Review: Nothing is sacred to the spectre of political correctness, so the negative reviews of "Curious George" shouldn't surprise me. The reviews likening George's story to the African slave trade are particularly puzzling: children do not think in those terms. I suggest that the folks who complain that it glorifies illegal animal trade read it more closely. George makes a lot of innocent mistakes, he doesn't mean to be bad, but the world is too fascinating for him to resist. He needs to have an authority figure looking out for him, and although he does try to get around the authority figure everyone knows the man with the yellow hat will save George from himself in the end. Yes, George is a monkey, but he is also a metophor for children everywhere. Every child in the world can relate to George, and that is why the books have remained popular for so long.

I loved Curious George as a child, and I am happy that my children love them as much as I do. If any book in the 4-8 age bracket deserves 5 stars it is Curious George.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible story for children
Review: Our family loves Curious George, but this book is absolutely horrible. It is a relic from an earlier world. The man captures George, puts him in a sack and takes him off to put him in a zoo. George smokes, as do a lot of other people in the book. Try to explain to a 2 or 3 year old why George is having a nice smoke before bed. Or try to explain why the man has captured George, stuffed him in a sack and taken him to live in a zoo. Other Curious George books are really great - we love the ones where he gets a bike, goes to the beach, goes to a Halloween party and goes to the pizzaria. However, the only way we can look at this one is after I cut out a lot of the pages.

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Summary: Children Love C. George!
Review: Say what you will all you PC book banners, but children will always love Curious George! He shows them that even when they make mistakes and aren't "perfect", they can still be forgiven and loved. He is also very cute and funny and I haven't yet met a five year old that can't relate!

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Summary: Curiouser and curiouser
Review: The world's most famous literary monkey. I hadn't read "Curious George" in years, and I was admittedly a little hesitant to do so when I saw the copyright date. 1941. Now due to the fact that George is originally from Africa, I had a sneaking fear and suspicion that there would be some terrible racist images to contend with. Imagine my surprise when I found that, as it happens, not a single horrid stereotype appears! Just the same, I have to point out that at the same time not a single positive stereotype appears either. This is a book bereft of people with skin that isn't white as newly driven snow. Bear this in mind.

Curious George does his darndest to live up to his name. A naughty little monkey, he is swiftly captured in Africa by the Man in the Yellow Hat (one prays he's no relation to "Tuck Everlasting"'s Man in the Yellow Suit). George is taken from his jungle paradise en route to the zoo. Along the way, George has a series of wild adventures. He takes a dip in the ocean (throwing up an amazing amount of saltwater and fish while he's rescued). He calls the fire department and is jailed. He escapes and flies around, balloons in hand. In the end, George is reunited with the Man in the Yellow Hat (who, despite the damage George has inflicted on the world and its civil servants, compensates only the balloon man). In the final parting shot of George, the monkey is happily ensconced in his new zoo life with the caption, "What a nice place for George to live!" This is definitely a pro-zoo book.

Personally, I've always been kind of taken with The Man in the Yellow Hat. Who the heck is this guy? Apparently he's a jaunty world adventurer with a penchant for monkeys. Most interesting is his striking resemblance to the pop on "Father Knows Best", pipe stuck squarely between his teeth, wise countenance advising his monkey ward. He isn't the best monkey watcher. Some might even argue that he's a bit lax in his attention, but he gets the job done. And you just gotta love the hat. Faaaabulous hat, yellow guy. All in all, it's a fine story. For kids who're interested in either monkeys or fiascos, this is a good monkey/fiasco tale. I'm a fiasco fan myself, so this book suits me fine. It's not, admittedly, my favorite but it has its charms.

Rating:
Summary: What's wrong with being curious?
Review: This famous children's book was the first of seven books by Rey about a monkey who is brought to the U. S. from Africa and who seems to have a penchant for getting into trouble. But, his curiosity keeps leading into new adventures and learning new things. The Ann Arbor reviewer of Oct. 7, 1998, clearly is angry at George. If that is the case, why not use the story to teach about rule breaking? I think it is very interesting to learn that the Reys had arrived in New York in 1940, having fled from the Germans invading France. In a way, they were just like George, forced to come to a new world and a new culture. I'll bet they got into trouble every now and then just because of their innocence and their curiosity.

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Summary: One of My Favorite Books When I Was A Child!
Review: When I was a child in the 1970's I loved The Curious George books by H.A. Rey and this is the very first book in the series and it is a very entertaining book about an adorable monkey named George who's curiosity gets him into all sorts of adventures and trouble. I checked this book out all the time from the public library and from the bookmobile that used to come to my school and I was very happy when I was finaly given my own copy to keep and I very highly recommend this cute book and all the rest of the books in The Curious George series!